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ST. ANDREWS, FLORIDA 






Historical notes upon St. Andrews and St. Andrews Bay, with 
Maps, and a portrait of Governor Clark 



And 



an 



APPENDIX 

Containing the official record of the vessels employed on the 

Blockading Fleet, of St. Andrews Bay 



By 



G. M. West 



T^ubli^hed by the Panama City Publishing Company, 



St Andrews Fla., 1922. 






COPYRIGHT. 1922. 

BY G. M. WEST 



©CIA674699 

JUN 21 1922 



♦Vvi 



To My 

Friends 

Here and Elsewhere 

Who by their expressed interest in my 
writings, have inspired and 
encouraged the sante, 
this little work is 

Respectfully Dedicated 

BY THE AUTHOR 



Errata. 

Page 7: 19th line, should read "settlement on St. Joseph. 
Bay," instead of St. Andrews Bay. 

Page 15: 1st line, should read "vineyard north of," 
instead of south. 



PREFACE 



This little volume is the result of a study since 1887. of 
the local history of this part of Florida, and incidentRlly of 
the e«rly history of the entire state: togrether with the desire 
thj^t somethine definite might be ascertained relative to the 
discovery of St. Andrews Bay, its earliest visitors, and subse- 
ouent history. 

In such work I have searched for information reli^tive to the 
first voyapfes made to this portion of the gulf: examining hun- 
dreds of books relative to the early history of this section ; its 
inhabitants: products, etc., and copied from such books and 
m^ns any fact that would aid in arriving at the facts relative 
to the e^rly historv of the St. Andrews Bay country. 

The work being restricted to a description of this im- 
mediate section, it does not touch upon much of the early 
history of what is now Bay county, and in that may be disap- 
pointing to many who had looked for such a work by the 
author. 

It is not divided into chapters, being rather a continuous 
series of historical notes, with data as to where original in- 
formation can be found, and in that may prove of value to the 
future historian of this section. 

Having been written week by week, as the publishing in 
a weekly newspaper demanded the installments, its literary 
value is not what it otherwise might have been, and an oc- 
casional subsequent find and narration of facts has possibly 
modified previous statements. However, if a more complete 
understanding is had from a study of these notes of the history 
of St. Andrews, the author will feel that the many hours of 
research employed on the work has been well worth while. 

G. M. WEST. 

"Old Town." St. Andrews. Florida, 1922. 




John Clark, From an oil painting in the 
Public Library at Atlanta, Ga. See 
page 29. 



St. Andrews, Florida 



By G. M. West 



St. Andrews undoubtedly received its name from some of 
the early Spanish navigators who explored the northeast Gulf 
coast in the 16th century, between 1516 and 1558. It has been 
said that "the course of the early Spanish explorers can be 
traced from Florida .... to California," by the place- 
names given by them to the physical features of the coast, and 
to the settlements made by these fearless adventurers. They 
were always accompanied by representatives of the Catholic 
church whose work was to Christianize the idolatrous Indians 
found, and their presence probably had much to do with the 
practice of naming the bays, capes and islands after the saint 
upon whose day they were discovered. Naming after saints is 
particularly noticeable on this part of the Gulf coast, extending 
from St. Marks on the e-^st to Saint Rose on the west, and in- 
cluding, besides these places, St. Teresa. St. Michael, St. 
George. St. Vincent St. Blaise, St. Joseph and St. Andrew. 
There is no other portion of the shore of the North American 
continent that has as many places named after saints, with as 
few other place names as has this two hundred and fifty miles 
of coast, which would lead to the belief that it received mark- 
ed attention from these early Spanish explorers. 

S-^int Blaise's day is February 3rd. v/hile February 4th is 
Saint Andrew Corsini's. This might indicate the naming of 
these two places consecutively and as having been done by a» 
explorer who came from the southeast of San Bias, that being 



2 St. Andrews, Florida 

the present name of Saint Blaise. However there are other 
Saints Andrew, one being St. Andrew Avellino, of November 
10th, and St. Andrew of November 30th. As to the identity of 
the explorer who named St. Andrew, or "St. Andrae" as it ap- 
pears on the old maps, it is impossible to now definitely say. 

Americus Vespuici, from whom America received its 
name, cruised along the north Gulf coast in the spring of 1498, 
and might possibly have visited St. Andrews Bay. In 1516, 
Diego Miurelo, a pilot in Cuba, made a trip along the west Gulf 
coast, surreptitiously trading with the Indians, He. had prob- 
ably made other such trading voyages before this date. A bay 
that had palm trees at its entrance was named the "Bay de 
Miurelo," as stated in the report of Bazares' voyage to this 
coast in 1558, and, as St. Andrews Bay marked the westernmost 
limit of the cabbage palm, and as there were a large number of 
these trees facing the entrance of the bay, and it being the only 
bay that had these trees at its entrance, in all probability this 
was the bay named after Miurelo, who undoubtedly had visited 
it in his trafficking with the Indians. 

Pineda, who was sent out by Garay on an exploring expe- 
dition of the shores of the north Gulf, is said to have visited 
this section of it. On the oldest map of this part of what is now 
Florida appears an inscription, "the land of Garay," but as 
these maps are indefinite as to locations, just where this land 
was can not be accurately stated. In 1521, Ponce de Leon made 
a voyage north along the west coast of Florida from the Tor- 
tugas, and is supposed by some historians to have come as far 
north as this part of the coast. 

In September, 1529, began the ill-fated voyage of Nar- 
varez and the remaining men of his expedition, in four poorly- 
constructed boats, westwardly along the coast from Apalache 
Bay, seeking to reach the Spanish settlements in Mexico. An 
account of this voyage was written by Cabeza de Vaca, treasur- 
er of the expedition and one of the four survivors, some eight 
years after it terminated, but as no notes were made, De Vaca 
writing his narration from memory alone, many portions of it 
are far from being a connected chronological record of the 
movements of the party. However, from a survey of local con- 
ditions, taken in conjunction with his statements, it is fairly 
well established that the members of this expedition visited 



St. Andrews, Florida 3 

St. Andrews Bay in the late fall of 1529. In this connection, 
the narrative of De Vaca states that the party, after a long and 
stormy voyage, one evening at sunset turned a point of land and 
found shelter. He continues: 

"Many canoes came and the Indians in them spoke to 
us, but turned back w^ithout waiting. They were tall and 
well built and carried neither bows or arrows. We follow- 
ed them to their lodges, which were nearly along the in- 
let, and landed, and in front of the lodges we saw many 
jars with water, and great quantities of cooked fish. The 
chief of the land offered all to the Governor and led him 
to his abode. The dwellings were of matting and seemed 
to be permanent." 

The party was attacked by Indians that night, and had to 
take to their boats. None of them escaped unhurt. The next 
morning De Vaca and his party destroyed over thirty of their 
canoes. They then continued their trip westward, but were 
checked by storms on the Gulf. 

The narrative further states that the chief at the point 
where they landed w^s clothed in a robe of civet-martin skins, 
of a fawn color. These were undoubtedly the reddish skunk 
skins that are to be found more frequently along this shore 
than elsewhere. The houses were thatched with palm leaves 
(the "matting" of De Vaca), and it was only here that these 
trees were to be found near the entrance of the bay. The wo- 
men wore a short skirt made from the filaments of the palm, 
which they had undoubtedly gathered from the palms on the 
shores of this bay. These matters, together with the prevailing 
weather conditions, the islands observed at the entrance of the 
bay. and the existing evidences of ancient Indian habitations 
and encampments along these shores, strongly indicate that 
this is the point referred to by De Vaca, and is where the four 
boat loads of Narvarez' men landed. Another important cor- 
roborative item was the loss of a Greek here, who was captur- 
ed by the Indians, and when De Soto came through that part 
of Alabama north of here some years later, he came across a 
poinard which had been owned by the Greek, and learned that 
he had been in that section. 

In 1540, De Soto, who had reached Apalache Bay at the 
point where the Narvarez expedition built their boats, sent Mal- 
donado, one of his captains, to the westward in search of a 



4 St. Andrews, Florida 

favorable harbor, and also sent a force by land. It is barely 
possible that one of these parties visited St. Andrews Bay and 
gave it its name. 

The next expedition that in all probability visited St. An- 
drews Bay was that of Guido de las Bazares who, with three 
vessels and a party of sixty soldiers, sailed from San Juan de 
Ulloa, on September 3, 1558, on an exploring expedition along 
the north Gulf coast. After touching the Texas coast, he turn- 
ed back until he came to the peninsula of Yucatan, then turn- 
ed northward and came upon the Gulf coast near the mouths 
of the Mississippi. From there he sailed eastward along the 
coast in search of Miurelo's Bay, and came to a bay with palm 
trees at its entrance, and which extended back from the shore. 
It would appear, in all probability, that this was St. Andrews 
Bay. 

The following year De Luna sailed from Vera Cruz with 13 
vessels and a large number of colonists and supplies, destined 
for Bazares' Bay, where the Spanish authorities had decided to 
locate a colony. After sailing back and forth along this coast to 
locate the bay, which had been indifferently described to their 
pilots, in August they reached a bay they decided to be the one 
described in their orders, and proceeded to make a landing. 
On the night of September 19th the bay was visited by a trop- 
ical hurricane which lasted 24 hours, with constantly increas- 
ing violence. During this storm five of their ships, a galleon 
and a bark were destroyed, with a great loss of life and sup- 
plies. So severe was this storm, and so wrought up were these 
colonists in a strange land, that they swore they saw devils in 
the air. One of the caravels was swept into a forest more than 
an arquebuse shot from the shore. This mishpp to the expe- 
dition, with others that followed, broke it up. This is the first 
record of a tropical hurricane on these shores. 

The disaster to De Luna's expedition undoubtedly checked 
further exploration, or attempts at settlement of this portion of 
the coast for a long period of time. As a further reason for 
avoiding it, it was stated by DeVaca and other early explorers 
to have been inhabited by a race of Indians who were "tall and 
well built" and very valorous, as well as united. Although this 
latter description refers more particularly to the tribes that oc- 
cupied the territory between the Suwanee and Apalachicola 



St. Andrews, Florida 5 

rivers, there are fragmentary accounts of their having outposts 
and settlements west of the latter river, which would bring 
them to this section of the coast, though, as is stated in the re- 
cords of these farmer Indians, these outer settlements were of 
a poorer class of the tribe, and unlike their relatives farther 
east, were engaged in fishing and hunting, rather than in the 
cultivation of the soil. However, it was customary for many 
of the inland tribes to come to the coast at certain seasons of 
the year, to secure fish and oysters and gather, in their season, 
the fruits of the cactus and Spanish dagger plant, as well as to 
perform certain religious ceremonies, drinking the "black 
drink" made from the leaves of the youpon, then bathing in the 
sea, these two latter as a "purification rite." That the eastern 
tribes of this nation were a strong and virile body, is shown by 
their reputation among even far away tribes, as is illustrated by 
the following speech of one of these latter Indians to DeSoto's 
men, when fighting near Withlacoochee : "Keep on, robbers 
and traitors, in Apalache you will receive that chastisement 
your cruelty deserves." DeVaca notes that they were very 
expert in the use of bow and arrows, and that they had been 
seen to shoot arrows through oaks that were as thick as the 
calf of a man's leg. 

The enormous shell heaps to be found on the shores of 
St. Andrews Bay, consisting principally of oyster shells, inter- 
spersed with those of the scallop andconch, are mute evidences 
that in the long ago, antedating the Indians that were found 
here by the early explorers, a people must have resided on the 
high hammocks to be found along the shore, who used these 
molluscs in large numbers for food. Live oaks, at least five 
hundred years old, were found growing on these mounds or 
shell heaps when the country was first settled by white people, 
while other oaks equally as old were rotting on the ground, in- 
dicating that generations of these trees might have grown on 
these mounds before those now there were in existence. In 
fact there are indisputable evidences of a people inhabiting the 
shores of St. Andrews Bay in the far distant past; who they 
were, where they came from, or what became of them, being 
one of the unsolved mysteries of this section. 

Some years ago the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sci- 
ences sent an expedition to explore the many mounds found on 
this part of the Florida coast. Right here in the now City of 



6 St. Andrews, Florida 

St. Andrews, on I. Godard's home lot in the West End, was 
found a burial ground which developed the fact that urn burial 
was practiced by these early inhabitants, this being, according 
to the report made, with one exception, the most easterly point 
where such a custom prevailed, indicating that this practice, 
which is found in the southwest, had probably been brought 
here by the early inhabitants from that section in a migration 
from there. No such mortuary practice has been found among 
the peninsula Indians or the aborigines of the peninsula of Flor- 
ida. 

Relative to the period from 1558 to 1700, but little has 
been made public as to discoveries or explorations on this por- 
tion of the Gulf coast. There are stored in the cellars of mon- 
asteries and convents in Spain, a mass of reports that were 
made by the Friars of that early day, relative to their efforts to 
establish and maintain missions in northern Florida, and of con- 
necting them up by highways which extended from the head- 
quarters of the missionaries at St. Augustine, to St. Marks, St. 
Joseph and Pensacola, but as to what information these reports 
contain relative to conditions as they then existed in this region, 
it is left for future investigators to discover and make public. 

Thomas Hutchins, in his notes relative to this coast, pub- 
lished in 1784, states that on one of his voyages he came to 
anchor in St. Joe Bay "just within the peninsula opposite some 
ruins that still remain of the village of St. Joseph. There the 
Spaniards had a post, which they abandoned about the year 
1700, but they took possession of it again in 1719." Of the 
French fort near there he says: "In the year 1717 the French 
erected a fort which they called Crevecoeur, a mile to the 
northwest of a brook in St. Joseph Bay, opposite to the point of 
the peninsula, but abandoned it in the next year on the repre- 
sentation of the Governor of Pensacola that it beloged to his 
Catholic Majesty." Soon after its desertion by the French the 
Spaniards took possession of it. Just when it was permanently 
abandoned has not been ascertained. 

An early notice of this section, showing it to have been in- 
habited by Spaniards, and relative to the fort at St. Joe. is to 
be found in the 2nd volume of Charlevoix's Voyage, page 346. 
In describing a voyage from St. Marks westward along the 
coast, in May, 1722, he tells of running on to oyster bars in the 
west part of Apalachicola Bay, and after getting clear of them, 



St. Andrews, Florida 7 

states that "We went to pass the remainder of the night in a 
country house belonging to a captain of Fort St. Joseph, called 
Dioniz, where at our arrival he told us strange news." From 
this it will be noted that a fort occupied by the Spaniards was 
there as late as 1722, and it must have been some time after 
that date that it was deserted. Charlevoix further says of this 
voyage: "Leaving St. Jo, we set out on the 30th, with the 
two shallops, and were saluted by the fort with five pieces of 
cannon. We advanced seven leagues that day. and came to 
anchor at the mouth of a river which came from a bay which 
opens to the southeast." 

Seven leagues from St. Joe would have brought this writer 
to the entrance of St. Andrews Bay, which has always had an 
opening to the southeast, and this is the second instance that 
we have found of this easterly pass being called a river. Un- 
doubtedly there was such a current setting out through it from 
the bay that navigators took it for a river. 

Although we have these facts showing the existence of a , 
settlement on St. Andrews Bay, there is nothing definite relative 
to any settlement on St. Andrews Bay, other than the extract 
from Robinson's letter in Roberts' Florida, noticed later on. 
The St. Joe settlement was the nearest point to St. Andrews Bay 
where white men had a settlement; but this bay does not ap- 
pear to have been occupied then, or before, by any large num- 
ber of Indians, and it being so far away from the Georgia-Caro- 
lina English settlements, it was not affected, as was the territory 
south of the Georgia line, by the continual fighting that was 
being carried on between the English colonists of the Carolinas 
and Georgia on one side and the Indians and Spanish of Florida 
on the other. This destructive warring was continued intermit- 
tently for over one hundred years, finally resulting in the break- 
ing up of the Spanish missions in North Florida and laying 
waste to what had become a prosperous section, with improved 
farms, much stock, many missions, and extensive highway im- 
provements. 

Regarding these Indians and their destruction, the "Hand- 
book of American Indians," published by the government, has 
the following to say : 

"The people were agricultural, industrious, and pros- 
perous, and noted above all the tribes for their fighting 
qualities, of which the Spanish adventurers had good 
proof. They continued resistance to the Spanish occu- 



8 St. Andrews, Florida 

pancy until after the year 1600, but were finally subdued 
and Christianized, their country becoming the most im- 
portant center of missionary effort in Florida, next to the 
St. Augustine district. In 1665 they had 8 considerable 
towns, each with a Franciscan mission, besides smaller set- 
tlements, and a total population of 6,000 to 8,000. Their 
prosperity continued until about 1700, when they began 
to suffer from the raids of the wild Creek tribes to the 
north, instigated by the English government of Carolina, 
the Apalache themselves being strongly in the Spanish in- 
terest. These attacks culminated in the year 1703, when 
a powerful expedition under Gov. Moore, of Carolina, 
consisting of a company of white troops, with a thousand 
armed savage allies of various tribes, invaded the Apa- 
lache country, destroyed the towns and missions, with their 
fields and orange groves, killed the Spanish garrison com- 
mander and more than 200 Apalachee warriors, and car- 
ried off 1,400 of the tribe into slavery. Another expedit- 
ion about a year later ravaged the territory and completed 
the destruction." 

These Apalachees were the inhabitants of this part of 
North Florida before the advent of the Seminoles, who came 
from the northeast and occupied the devastated country some 
time later. Of the early Indians we know but little. They 
were somewhat noted as mariners, and it is stated by the ear- 
liest writers that voyages were made by them to Cuba, using 
canoes hollowed out of large cypress trees. 

The Bay country appears all through these years to have 
remained in possession of the Indians, and a few Spanish ad- 
venturers who led a rather precarious existence by fishing and 
hunting and the cultivation of small gardens surrounding their 
homes. Just where these homes were located can not now be 
determined, but from the orange and fig trees found by the 
earliest settlers, at Dyers point and other favorable locations 
about the bay, it may be safely surmised that they marked the 
homes of these early Spanish settlers, the seeds and sprouts 
from which these trees grew having been brought here 
from some near-by mission, or by the Friars visiting this bay. 

It is quite probable that it was the unimportance of the 
few Indians and Spaniards who were living on St. Andrews Bay 
that caused them to be overlooked, or unmolested, when the 
prosperous tribes to the eastward were destroyed, as has been 
narrated herein. 

The only reference found in narratives of the early naviga- 
tors and travelers to this immediate section, prior to the Eng- 



St. Andrews, Florida 9 

lish occupation in 1763, is in a letter published in Roberts' Flor- 
ida, written by a gentleman named Thomas Robinson, who 
made a voyage from Pensacola to St. Marks in 1754. In writ- 
ing of this coast he says : 

"The shore level, rising gradually into eminences, 
clothed with the finest verdure, and spontaneous produc- 
tions, interspersed promiscuously, as mulberry, cedar, co- 
coa, vanilla, moho, and cabbage trees, etc.. the last tower- 
ing their round tops above the rest, as if conscious of its 
sovereign dignity. I discovered near to this coast several 
plats of ground, which appeared to be barakas of wood 
(like those I had seen on the Mexican coast) surrounded 
with pleasant little gardens and corn." 

The refernce to "cabbage trees" (cabbage palms) in this 
letter would indicate that the writer was viewing the land 
along the shores where St. Andrews city is now located, pos- 
sibly including the southern shore of the peninsula, and the 
garden plots and barakas (cottages or rural houses) were the 
homes of the few Spanish living here at that time. 

The settlement and the forts that were established on St. 
Joseph Bay indicate that Spanish missions, colonists and sol- 
diers, as well as the French, had given that bay attention at an 
early date, but St. Andrews Bay had apparently received but 
little notice. So little was known of the latter, even by those 
who were presumed to be acquainted with these shores, that 
Roberts, writing of the newly acquired British possessions in 
his work published in 1763, says: 

"The bay of St. Andrews lies seven miles to the N. W. 
of the Bay of St. Joseph, of which we have no particular 
description." 

However, it is evident from Robinson's letter, written in 
1754, together with the finding of fig and orange trees by the 
first English settlers here at or about 1765, that there were 
some white settlers here, and possibly as early as there were 
any at St. Joseph, or about 1700. Spanish coins of an early date 
have been picked up on these shores, and various ancient clear- 
ings may have been the plats described by Robinson. Legend 
states that favored beaches, like that of Smack bayou, were 
used by the freebooters of the Gulf to careen and clean their 
vessels, when these pirates were preying upon the richly laden 
Spanish ships en route from Mexico to Spain, carrying their ill- 
gotten booty, the proceeds of robbery of the native temples, and 
of compulsory donations by the Indians. 



10 St. Andrews, Florida 

The first charting of these shores, and of St. Andrews Bay, 
was done by Admiral Gauld, of the British Admiralty, who be- 
gan the work in 1764 and continued it through the next seven 
years. A copy of this chart may be found in the Congressional 
Library at Washington. One of the causes leading to this ex- 
tensive survey was the acquisition of the Floridas by England, 
and the necessity of that country having more accurate in- 
formation regarding this region than it heretofore possessed. 
The survey appears to have been quite thorough, and presents 
a very accurate delineation of St. Andrews Bay, thus named on 
this chart. Particular attention appears to have been given to 
that portion of the bay upon which St. Andrews is now located ; 
the points opposite ; the lagoon ; the freshwater lake ; East bay 
to the big bay beyond Long Point; the north and west shores 
of West bay; camel's back shoal, etc. 

A good anchorage is located as existing behind the end 
of the point extending from Wood's End to beyond where the 
east end of Hurricane island is at present, showing that the land 
was continuous from the westward to that point at that time. 
St. Andrews island, shown on this chart, lay to the eastward of 
where Hurricane island is now situated. It was quite a large 
island with a good-sized bay extending from the Gulf into the 
eastern portion of it. The bending inwards of the west point of 
this island and the east point of land's end would indicate that 
a storm had broken through the land that extended from the 
westward, and that this land was at an earlier date continuous 
to the east end of the island, and that there was but one en- 
trance to the bay, which lay between this island and the point 
that makes out from the east, now known as Crooked island. 
The channel into the bay at that time, however, was at the 
west end of St. Andrews island. This is the first map of St. An- 
drews Bay that is in any way correct, the earlier ones showing 
it to be a large circular body of water with a round island lying 
off its entrance and another within the bay situated about where 
St. Andrews stands today; probably an error growing out of 
the assumption by early observers that North and East bays 
were one large circle of water. Possibly the English settle- 
ments on the bay soon after the country was taken over by Eng- 
land were the cause of so much work having been done by these 
surveyors hereabouts. 

With the end of the Seven Years' War, Spain lost the Flor- 
idas to England, and they were formally transferred by the 



St. Andrews, Florida 1 1 

Treaty of Paris in 1763. English officers were at once put in 
charge of the two territories, East and West Florida, who per- 
sonally did what they could to induce immigration at coast 
points, but no effort was made to settle the interior. The policy 
pursued by England in connection with her newly acquired ter- 
ritory has been pronounced "cold and selfish," in that it was. 
as then officially stated, solely for the purpose of "improving 
and extending the commerce, navigation, and manufactures of 
this kingdom (Great Britain)," and that "the extension of the 
fur trade depends entirely upon the Indians being undisturbed 
in the possession of their hunting grounds, and that all coloniz- 
ing does in its nature, and must in its consequences, operate to 

the detriment of that branch of commerce 

Let the savages enjoy their desert in quiet. Were they driven 
from the forests the peltry-trade would decrease." This mer- 
cenary national policy of Great Britain, not yet eradicated, re- 
sulted in but sparse and poor settlements along the shores of 
the country, and checked the development of the interior. 

This portion of Florida was under the governorship of 
Commodore George Johnstone, of the British Navy, a very en- 
ergetic and able man, who did what he could to draw immigra- 
tion to Pensacola, the seat of his government. Campbell in his 
Colonial Florida describes the Commodore's arrival at Pensa- 
cola as follows: 

"There came with him the Twenty-firsl British regi- 
ment as a garrison for the post, and also a number of civil- 
ians in search of fortune, or new homes; some as parasites, 
who are never absent where public money is to be dis- 
tributed, and others attracted by the charms of the dis- 
trict, under the delusive misrepresentations of which the 
immigrant is so often the victim." 

The governor's efforts to advance the colony present the 
first instance of promotion publicity in this part of Florida. 
Campbell says of this: 

"In November, 1764, Governor Johnstone, under instruc- 
tions from the British government — which from the first seems 
to have taken a deep interest in the development of its late ac- 
quisitions — published a description of the province for the pur- 
pose of attracting settlers." It would be interesting to read 
this first description of West Florida prepared to induce devel- 
opment thereof. As at the present time, the pensioning and re- 
muneration of the soldiery by grants of land was a prominent 



12 St. Andrews, Florida 

issue. England saw in this project an opportunity of securing 
settlers for its new territories. Fairbanks describes this propo- 
sition as follows : 

"With the view of encouraging the speedy settlement 
of the newly acquired territories, the English governors 
were empowered and directed to grant lands without fee 
or charge to such reduced officers as had served during 
the late war and to such private soldiers as had been or 
who should be disbanded in America and were actually 
residing there, and who should personally apply for such 
grants, subject, at the expiration of ten years, to the same 
quit-rents as other lands in the provinces in which they 
were granted, as also to the same conditions of cultivation 
and improvement. These grants were to be apportioned 
to the rank of the applicants. A field officer was to re- 
ceive five thousand acres, a captain three thousand acres, 
a subaltern or staff officer two thousand, every non-com- 
missioned officer two hundred, and every private soldier 
fifty acres." 

That this opportunity to locate on lands by the English 
soldiery was taken advantage of here on St. Andrews Bay, is 
indicated by the old fields, now grown up to rosemary, along 
its shores, and the reports of Lieut. Bonnycastle and the histor- 
ian Williams, and locations shown on his map made from an 
investigation during the years 1821-1825, as well as by the 
first settlers of Wells. 

Lieut. Bonnycastle traveled through this section between 
1800 and 1815, and in a work entitled "Spanish America," 
published in London in 1815, has the following to say about St. 
Andrews Bay: 

"Rivers: Saint Andrews river in 85.40 west longi- 
tude; 30.17 north latitude." 

In the matter of latitude these early navigators and charts 
differ from five to twenty miles, so the figures given by them 
can not be used in connection with the latitude or longitude of 
the present charts. 

The only three places that Lieut. Bonnycastle notes in 
West Florida were Pensacola, Wells, and Apalachicola, Of 
Wells he says: 

"Wells, a seaport on the west side of St. Andrews Bay. 
and in 30.25 north latitude, and 85.50 west longitude." 

As before stated, these locations can not be depended upon 
within twenty miles. That the seaport referred to was at or 



St. Andrews, Florida 13 

near Dyers Point, is corroborated by other unimpeachable evi- 
dence. Williams in his "West Florida," written from facts 
gleaned by the travels of the author through this bay section 
between 1821 and 1825. says of Wells: 

"During the possession of the English, a town was be- 
gun about seven miles northeast from Pensacola, called 

Campbellstown Another on the east side 

of St. Andrews Bay, called Wells It is im- 
possible at this time, to obtain any exact knowledge of the 

proportions of either They all fell into 

decay after the English evacuated the country." 

From a descendant of a man named Wells, who came from 
Georgia or the Carolinas, and from whom the town undoubted- 
ly obtained its name, we find that it was of no little importarc^ 
during the English occupancy of this section, which continued 
from 1765 to 1781 or 1782, and during these eighteen years 
there was quite a little trade at this place, the other English 
settlers around the bay securing their supplies there, and the 
Indians in this section, trading at that point; of the latter th e 
must have been quite a number as Bartram in his travels 
through West Florida during this time notes an Indian villti^n' 
on the Apalachicola with some two thousand inhabitants. 

The first Masonic lodge in what is now Bay county, and 
possibly in West Florida was established at Wells under a 
charter from the Grand Lodge of England. Mr. Wells was 
one of the first worthy masters of this lodge, and his descend- 
ants have still in their possession his "lambskin apron." 

It is stated that, although offered equal privileges with the 
English settlers by the government, nearly all of the Spanish in 
this section moved elsewhere upon the English taking posses- 
sion of the country, some going to St. Joseph, but the most of 
them to the Spanish possessions, Cuba, etc. The very few im- 
provements that the indolent Spaniards had made were either 
sold to the English settlers or abandoned. 

The English immigrants were from various sections. Some 
undoubtedly were the fortune hunters who came over with Gov- 
ernor Johnstone; others were discharged soldiers; while in re- 
volutionary days, from 1775 to 1781. many so-called tories. who 
were run of out of Georgia and The Carolinas by the patriots, 
came into North Florida, and some of them were undoubtedly 
attracted to St. Andrews Bay. 

The English government offered a bounty for the produc- 



14 St. Andrews, Florida 

tion of indigo and also for naval stores, and the few planters in 
this section produced both of these articles. That indigo was 
grown hereabouts is indicated by the plant being still found scat- 
tered about in waste places, a reminisence of the olden days 
when the growing of it was the principal business. It is stated 
that the yearly income from one man's work in producing indi- 
go was $175. The work was done by slaves. 

Besides the trading posts at St. Joseph and Wells, the firm 
of Panton, Leslie & Co., with headquarters at Pensacola, trad- 
ed with the settlers and Indians in this section, sending out 
goods by pack train and exchanging them for anything the oth- 
ers had to offer. Among the articles named as being received 
by this firm from these parties were pine timber, lumber, rosin, 
turpentine, pitch, cedar, indigo, salt beef, hides, cattle, tallow, 
bear's oil, salt fish, staves, shingles, honey, beeswax, myrtle 
wax, dried venison, deer skins, furs and peltry. 

Northeasterly along the shore of the bay from Dyers Point, 
are evidences of many old fields, extending for some miles. 
These plats of ground are now thickly covered with rosemary, 
in fact many of them have no other shrubbery, or even grass 
growing on them. ''Rosemary, that's for remembrance," says 
Shakespeare, and it is the irony of fate that these acres of fra- 
grant rosemary are all that remain as a remembrancer of those 
first English settlers on St. Andrews Bay. 

Williams' map of West Florida, drafted from information 
obtained by him in his investigation of this section between 
1821 and 1826, shows that settlers had located at Bay Head, 
and also about where Lynn Haven is now situated. There are 
likewise indications of plantations having existed between Car- 
oline bayou and the Panama City west line on the live oak ham- 
mock in that locality, as well as at other points along the bay 
shore. These settlements were possibly originally made by the 
English ; by the soldiers who were given grants of land, as here- 
tofore noted. 

It was early discovered that the growing of grapes could be 
profitably carried on this section, and an order of the French 
government was promulgated at that time forbidding their 
growth in the new colonies, for fear of their coming into compe- 
tition with the vineyards of France. Bartram and others speak 
of choice grapes being grown at the Spanish missions, and those 
at St. Joseph are spoken of as being particularly fine. At an 






^ L.-'/iiu-kteivnl 




Section of Williams' map, pub- 
lished in his '^West Florida," 
1827, showmg the St. Andrews 
Bay Section and adjacent coun- 
try. See pages 14-15-20-21. 



St. Andrews, Florida 1 5 

early date there was a large vineyard south of the present 
beach highway leading to Panama City, about one-fourth of a 
mile west of the western limits of that city, and within the pres- 
ent limits of the City of St. Andrews. 

Between the time that Gauld's survey of the bay and ad- 
jacent coast was made — 1764 to 1781, and the next oldest 
survey, that of Williams — 1821 - 1826, marked changes occur- 
red in the form and extent of the sand spit lying between St. 
Andrews Bay and the Gulf, giving evidence that one or more 
severe storms had swept this coast during that time, breaking 
through the low sand barrier and leaving three islands where 
there was but one in 1764. This breaking up of the sand spit 
resulted in the formation of what is now known as West Pass 
and also another opening — now closed — through Spanish 
Shanty Cove, and the removal of much of the material forming 
the spit by the storm-driven waters. No detailed account of 
the tropical storms visiting this section prior to 1840 has been 
found. 

The only names in this immediate section .shown on 
Gauld's chart are St. Andrew's Bay. St. Andrew's Island, St. 
Joseph's Bay, Cape Blaise (Cape San Bias), Choctawhatchee 
River, and Red Bluff, the latter being on the Gulf beach about 
due south of the eastern end of Choctawhatchee Bay. This 
"red bluff" has a historical significance in that the earliest navi- 
gators of this part of the Gulf refer to such a landmark near 
the entrance to a bay, which historians have sought diligently 
to locate, but, failing to find any reference to a red bluff or ham- 
mock near the entrance of any bay on this coast, have passed 
St. Andrews Bay by in their efforts to fix the locations of topo- 
graphical features of note discovered by these first navigators. 
From the references herewith published from early travelers in 
this immediate section to a "red bluff," it may be taken for 
granted that the bay discovered was that of St. Andrews. 

On Williams' map, the large island at the entrance of the 
bay is named "Hammock Island," with Crooked Island to the 
east of it and Sand Island to the west; the latter, according to 
his report, lying some three miles off shore. This island, it is 
evident, must have been formed by the outrush of a great storm 
tide from the bay, which tore through the barrier at Spanish 
Shanty Cove, carrying out with it the sand that formed the 
spit and depositing it as an island at the point referred to. Sand 



16 St. Andrews, Florida 

Island could not have lasted for many years as the next map 
published, that of the U. S. Coast Survey — the topography of 
which was mapped in 1855, shows over three fathoms of water 
where, according to Williams, the island was situated. Of this 
island he says: 

"Sand island, a small island, three miles from the 
shore, and about one mile in length. Except some bunches 
of tall grass (uniola laitifolia), and some scurvy grass, or 
as it is called here, sea kale, it is totally barren. During 
summer it is wholly covered with eggs of sea fowl." 

It is possible that the storm that aided materially in the 
final destruction of St. Joseph in 1841, or that which destroyed 
the San Bias light house in 1851, might have swept this island 
out of existence, returning its sand to the barrier that is known 
as Land's End, as the chart of 1855 shows the barrier once more 
built up at this point. Williams' description relative to this 
island being covered with the eggs of sea-fowl, as well as the 
reference of DeVaca, in his visit to this shore in 1528, shows 
the great extent of bird life on these coast islands in those early 
days. This continued until the white man had permanently 
settled the country, possibly within the last 75 years, when their 
destruction began, and it has continued until many of the spe- 
cies that were once common here are now never seen on these 
shores. 

The name "Hurricane Island" does not appear on any of 
the charts prior to that issued by the government, designated 
the "Preliminary Chart of St. Andrew's Bay, Florida," dated 
1855. It is quite possible that the storm of 1841, or that which 
swept this coast ten years later, gave this island the name it 
bears today. Early writers stated that it was quite heavily 
wooded, and as late as the year 1900 there .were quite a few 
old pines standing along the sand spit west of Land's End, the 
"Seven Pines," a prominent landmark there, having been the 
motif for a poem, so named, by a visiting tourist. The name 
"Hammock" (Williams' map) would indicate that it was hilly, 
and possibly covered with trees. 

The sand hills on the "Hurricane Island" of the 1855 chart 
are laid down as very prominent objects. The "Saddle Hills," 
extending from the west of Spanish Shanty Cove, along the 
Gulf beach, were likewise a marked topographical feature as 
late as 1900. Of the early sand hills on the large island at the 
entrance to this bay, Geographer Hutchins, who traveled along 



St. Andrews, Florida 17 

this coast quite quite extensively during the early years of the 
English occupation, describes both these sand hills and the red 
hammocks marking the entrance to St. Andrews Bay as follows: 
"There is a high white sand hill, which is a remarkable object 
from the sea about ten leagues to the north- 
west of Cape Blaise." Speaking of the shore to the westward 
of the entrance, he says: "It is to be observed that the trees are 
thick and come close to the shore. There are likewise some 
red hummocks as well as white, which may be of service to 
know that part of the coast." 

Preliminary chart No. 1, issued by the government, being 
a survey of St. Andrews Bay made between the years 1849 
to 1855, a minature copy of which can be found in Lieut. Col. 
Gilmore's published report on "Ship Canals Across Florida," 
1880, the original chart being no longer in existence as shown 
by a search by the officials of the Coast and Geodetic Survey at 
Washington, gives the following names to places on St. An- 
drews Bay and the adjacent coast, beginning at the northwest 
side of the bay: Dyers Point, Buena Vista, St. Andrews, Clark 
— name of the postoffice and postmaster for the bay country, 
Redfish Point, and an unidentified place or point further 
east; thence to the lower part of the bay, commencing at the 
western part of the sketch map : Bear Point, Courteney's, Alli- 
gator, Big Lagoon Point, Blind Bay, Hurricane Island, East 
Pass, Crooked I., Bushy Sign, E. W., St. Andrews Sd., St. An- 
drews Pt., Desert; on the south side of the peninsula: Davis- 
Point, High Woods, Penny, Sand Bluff, Nunrod's camp, and 
Franklin, the latter near the head of what is now Crooked Is- 
land Sound. This chart was used by Gilmore in illustrating his 
proposed canal from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, the first 
published map of such a project. The canal left the head of 
Crooked Island sound, passing through the low land near the 
coast to what is designated as Lake Searcy, thence to Lake 
Wimico, through it and on to the Apalachicola River, Apalachi- 
cola and beyond. This cutting between Crooked Island Sound 
and Lake Wimico he puts down at 19 miles in length. The canal 
was to enter Lake Wimico at a place named Bayou Columbus. 
It has been found necessary, in arriving at the genesis of 
names and conditions hereabouts, to publish data that has to 
do with adjacent territory beyond the limits of the present city 
of St. Andrews, and it is impossible to separate the history of 
the bay from that of the city. This in explanation of much that 



lo St. Andrews, Florida 

has appeared, and which will appear in the future relative to 
this immediate part of the country outside of the city limits. 
Unlike any portion of these United States which was a 
part thereof in Colonial days, no descendants of the first in- 
habitants of the St. Andrews Bay country, or even of this por- 
tion of West Florida, are to be found here today. Spanish su- 
premacy appears to have destroyed every settlement and caus- 
ed the removal to other countries of the inhabitants thereof, 
resulting in a complete abandonment of the country. Not even 
the name of any of these early settlers remains attached to 
any locality, or natural object here. What has come down to 
us in this direction can be traced back to names given by the 
early navigators of the Gulf, Indian names, or those of natural 
phenomena. 

That the Spaniards who settled on St. Andrews Bay be- 
tween 1700 and 1763 were largely from the mission settlement 
at St. Joseph, is altogether probable. The English settlement 
of Wells, between 1764 and 1781, manifests from its name and 
family history in the Wells family that it was partly, or largely 
settled by Georgians and Carolinians, who came here owing to 
this bay country being English territory, and who undoubtedly 
had heard of its charms from travelers and traders. 

By the Treaty of Peace of 1783, the Floridas again came 
into possession of the Spaniards. The English at once depart- 
ed, some going to the new United States, which had become one 
of the nations of the earth ; others going to Jamaica and other 
British colonies. In a way it was a parallel of the Acadians 
leaving their homes, which has been immortalized by Long- 
fellow in Evangeline : 

"Waste are those pleasant farms, and the farmers forever departed ! 
Scattered like dust and leaves, vi^hen the mighty blasts of October 
Seize them, and whirl them aloft, and sprinkle them o'er the ocean. 
Naught but tradition remains of the beautiful village of Grand-Pre." 

Of the return of the Spaniards in 1784, the historian Fair- 
banks says: 

"Upon the reoccupation of Florida by the Spaniards 
in 1784 but few of the former inhabitants returned. They 
had become settled in other lands, and made new occupa- 
tions. The fine estates upon the coast and on the St. John's 
River left by the retiring English proprietors remained un- 
occupied, a prey to that rapid decay which so soon re- 
claims to native wildness the labor of years." 



St. Andrews, Florida 19 

Another writer, the historian Williams, writing at a nearer 
date to these occurrences, in his "West Florida" of 1827, says: 

"The recession of the Floridas to Spain operated as a 
blight over the whole face of the country. The English 
population removed en masse; abandoning their villages 
and fields in the country, and their houses and gardens in 
the cities, they sought shelter among the islands of the 
West Indies. They were succeeded by a military popula- 
tion, who barely existed on their pay, wholly inattentive 
to improvements: the fields and gardens grew up in briars 
and bushes, and the fences and houses either rotted down, 
or were burned for fuel. In the space of forty years, the 
once flourishing settlements of Florida dwindled down to 
two ragged towns, which, with all their dependencies, 
could not muster six thousand inhabitants." 

Of the homes of the English settlers, Williams says: 

"Neatness, cheerfulness, and plenty, were conspicu- 
ous in the houses; and industry, health, and abundance, in 
the gardens and fields." 

That Wells possessed many of the characteristics thus 
spoken of is attested by its having a Masonic Lodge there ; as 
such a lodge would not be instituted, or continued, in a place 
devoid of intelligent and active citizens. 

None of the English settlers are known to have ever re- 
turned to their old homes here. Abandoning the comfortable 
houses that they had erected and occupied; the fruitful groves 
and fields with which they had surrounded them; the graves 
of their loved ones who had died during their occupancy of 
the land, and which they had watched over and tenderly cared 
for, never to see them again ; such was the fate of the settlers 
who were virtually driven out of this section upon its reoccupa- 
tion by the Spaniards in 1784, 

Of the time intervening between this occupation and the 
purchase of Florida by the United States in 1819, followed by 
its occupation in 1821, but little is known of this immediate sec- 
tion. No permanent settlements were made on St. Andrews 
Bay, and all that history tells us of this place is that there were 
a few poor Spanish fishermen located on the shores of the bay. 
Owing to the constant fighting that was going on in North and 
West Florida during these thirty-five years, between the In- 
dians and their aids, the runaway negroes from the Georgian 
plantations; and United States forces, twice under General 
Jackson ; with the Creek Indians of Georgia, making forays 



20 St. Andrews, Florida 

upon the Seminoles of this section ; it also being a hiding place 
for the renegades from both the British army and the Colonial 
forces which had been stationed in the Carolinas and Georgia ; 
no progress toward development of the country could take 
place, and North Florida became but little other than a barren 
fighting ground, a "no man's land," occupied by but a few peo- 
ple, and they were of a nomadic character. 

But information regarding this section of the state had 
reached the states of Georgia and the Carolinas, possibly 
through the return home of Jackson's, Clark's, or other troops 
who had been through West Florida, and with the acquisition 
of Florida by the United States, it was not long before hardy 
pioneers from these states and others had begun moving into 
West Florida. The fishing afforded by the waters of St. An- 
drews Bay caused many planters from Alabama and Georgia 
to make trips to this point, bringing along a sufficient number 
of slaves to do the fishing, and taking, salting, and carrying 
home a large number of fish with which the diet of the planta- 
tion could be varied. 

Conditions existing here about 1820, and probably some 
little time before, are set forth on the map made by Williams, 
and in his book, from data secured by him while he was travel- 
ing through this section between 1820 and 1826. In the pre- 
face to his "West Florida," published in 1827, he says: 

"The following pages are the result of the occasional 
employment of the writer, while engaged in other pursuits, 
during a residence of seven years in Florida. His atten- 
tion was first attracted to the subject by remarking the 
singular deficiency of the maps of West Florida, in his 
frequent excursions through the country. Having been 
appointed one of the commissioners for locating the new 
seat of government of Florida, the author, for his own 
satisfaction, made a minute survey of the coast, from St. 
Andrews bay to the Suwanee, as well as the interior of the 
country in which Tallahassee is situated." 

In 1837 Williams published a more extensive work en- 
titled "Williams' Florida." This embodied additional informa- 
tion that the author had gathered during the time intervening 
between the 1827 and 1837 publications. In this latter work 
he says of this section : 

"Among the various improvements of the Map, I have 
inserted a complete outline of St. Andrews bay. This ex- 
tensive sheet of water had never been examined by any of 



St. Andrews, Florida 21 

the surveyors of our coast or of the public lands, and the 
sketches on all our charts and maps represent anything 
but a correct delineation of one of the finest harbors on 
the Gulf of Mexico." 

We have never been able to find a copy of this latest chart 
of St. Andrews Bay by Williams. In our own copy, and many 
that we have examined, the map has been removed. Of Wil- 
liams' character and work, the historian Brinton, in his review 
of the literature of Florida, published in 1859, says: 

"His style is eminently dry and difficult to labor 
through, and must ever confine the History to the shelf as 
a work of reference, and to the closet of the painful stu- 
dent. Yet with all its faults — and they are neither few 
nor slight — this is the most complete work ever published 
concerning the territory of Florida ; it is the fruit of years 
of laborious investigation, of absorbing devotion to one 
object, often of keen mental and bodily suffering, and will 
ever remain a witness to the energy and zeal of its writer.' 

It is to the indefatigable work of Williams that we are in- 
debted for the meagre descriptions, but quite accurate map- 
ping of the St. Andrews bay country as it was between the 
years 1815 and 1826. Though he did not visit here until about 
1820, yet he noted what had been the conditions during the pre- 
vious years, that were still in such perceptible form as to per- 
mit of a fair description thereof. 

His map of West Florida to be found in his 1827 publica- 
tion is of inestimable value. It is well drawn, and contains a 
vast amount of valuable information. An inset shows Pesacola 
as it was when that city was taken over by the United States, an 
interesting illustration taken in connection with its present lim- 
its, of how that city has extended its limits bayward during the 
past one hundred years. This map has also an inset showing 
the bar and entrance to Pensacola bay at that time. 

St. Andrews Bay is fairly well depicted thereon so far as 
the main bay is concerned, the east shore of North bay, the La- 
goon, and the interior country north of this bay to the Alabama 
state line. Big Oyster Point is thus named and placed as on 
present maps; also Oyster Point at the present location of Lit- 
tle Oyster Bar, with Col. Loftin's home a short disance north- 
east of the latter point, between it and what was named East 
Creek. Between the latter and Bear Creek, thus named on 
this map, and about where Bay Head is now located, two homes 
are shown, being the residences of Ormond and Young. On 



22 St. Andrews, Florida 

the east side of the Econfina is shown a residence marked 
Wood, to the north of which is the natural bridge on the Econ- 
fina. That stream was crossed here by the highway running 
from Tallahassee to Pensacola. West Bay was named Wapaluxy 
Bay, the Indian name for round bay. Shackleford & Merlet 
are down with two houses in Holmes Valley, on the east side 
of Holmes Creek, north of its junction with Hard Labor Creek. 
These names for these streams were evidently of older origin 
than 1820. To the northeast were Hickory and Oak Hills, as 
at present, and still further northeast was Webbville, Judge 
Robinson's ferry, another ferry just east of Webbville, just be- 
low Russ Creek, to the north of which was Samlocks Creek. 
Williams had a very high opinion of the bay of St. An- 
drews. Of it, in his "Florida" of 1837, he says: 

"St. Andrews Bay was, until lately, almost unknown. 
At some future time, it must become a place of importance. 
It is easy of access, has eighteen feet of water on the bar, 
has good anchorage and is perfectly sheltered from all 
winds. Its various arms are very capacious, some of them 
extend thirty miles into the country. The north and east- 
ern division extend to the rich settlements of Chipola, the 
principal part of the trade of which passes through this 
bay. The main entrance is between Sand Island and 
Hammock Island. Another channel between Hammock 
and Crooked Islands is almost as good, but is not so direct 
to the sea. The main body of the bay extends north twelve 
miles, and thus far, averages from two to five miles in 
width. One mile from the sea beach, an arm about one 
mile wide runs westward, parallel with the coast, for 
twenty miles. Ten miles from the sea, another arm 
branches off to the eastward thirty miles. This arm is in 
some places ten, and in others not more than one mile 
wide. It approaches within seven miles of the Chipola 
Inundation. A company has been incorporated to connect 
the two waters. Should this be carried into effect, St. An- 
drews will command the trade of the Apalachicola River. 

"The Wapaluxy Bay recedes from St. Andrews, fif- 
teen miles from the sea, on the western side of the north 
arm. It is a circular basin about twelve miles in diameter, 
and is from twelve to fourteen feet deep. It is surrounded 
by low flat pine barren, a creek enters the western border, 
which interlocks with the pond branch of the Choctaw- 
hatchee. Four miles above Wapaluxy, on the north arm, 
is Little Oyster Point, thus far any vessel may ascend that 
can cross the bar. P>om this point to the head of the bay 
is eight miles, the water gradually shoals to seven feet. 
Here, at the warehouses of Sewal and Bower, the produce 



St. Andrews, Florida 23 

of the interior country is shipped. At this point the Econ- 
fina River enters the bay. The sound behind Hammock 
Island affords shelter for vessels drawing 18 feet of water, 
and is easy of access at either end of the island." 

The project of connecting the waters of the Atlantic and 
the Gulf by a canal was warmly supported by Territorial Re- 
presentative J. M. White, who, in 1825, introduced a bill in 
congress "for the survey of a route for a canal between the 
Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico," which was passed, the senate 
amending to read, "by which the survey will be extended west, 
through the bays of St. Andrews. St. Rosa, Pensacola, Perdido, 
Mobiles and Pascagoula, and through lakes Borgne and Pont- 
chartrain. to the Mississippi, by the Iberville, or the canal Ca- 
rondolet." 

If this survey was ever made, no record of it can now be 
found in Washington. This action of the senate appears to be 
the beginning of the Atlantic to Mississippi inland waterway, 
which was to include St. Andrews Bay in its route. 

Although we have the names and locations of settlers on 
the northern part of St. Andrews Bay, who came shortly after 
the purchase of Florida from Spain, the first to settle on the 
north shore of the main bay, or as it was called on the early 
charts, "St. Andrews Bay," — north, east and Wapaluxy being 
the old names given to what is now regarded as St. Andrews 
Bay as a whole — was ex-Governor John Clark, of Georgia, 
who, in 1827, removed from Milledgeville, then the capital of 
Georgia, to what is now known as "Old Town," erecting a 
house on the property where G. M. West subsequently built 
his home in 1887. This spot was undoubtedly chosen because 
of the fine spring on the rear of the home lot, the grand view 
of the bay and gulf from the bluff, and the fine grove of live 
oaks and magnolias with which the site was wooded. 

Why Governor Clark, as he was called, should have come 
to St. Andrews, can only be surmised. He might have accom- 
panied his father. Major Elijah Clark, in some of his incursions 
into the Floridas when they were owned by Spain. The latter 
was as bitter against the Spaniards as was General Jackson, 
and like all other Georgians, complained bitterly at the treat- 
ment accorded that colony by the government, as regarded the 
failure to remove the Creek Indians. 

In Fuller's "Purchase of Florida," we find the following 



24 St, Andrews, Florida 

reference to these matters, and as to his being commissioned 
a Major-General in the French service as a reward for his op- 
erations against the Spaniards: 

"Genet had found an active lieutenant in General 
Elijah Clark, an officer of prominence in the Revolution, 
v^ho had for some time been an active disturber of the 
peace on the Florida border. First a leader in unwarrant- 
ed violations of the McGilvray treaty of 1790, he made 
war on the Indians and the Florida Spanish. Under Ge- 
net's advice and assistance he formed a party in Georgia, 
called the Sans Culottes, based on hatred of the Spanish, 
and sympathy for the French control of the Spanish-Amer- 
ican possessions. He was guilty of the grossest violations 
of neutrality and repeatedly attacked the Spanish posts." 

It might be inferred from the foregoing extract that Elijah 
Clark was very much of a brigand, but he was, as is stated 
elsewhere in this history, "a man of honor and standing in the 
South." It was the constant irritation arising from the McGilv- 
ray treaty with the Indians, made by the government against 
the rights and protests of Georgia, and the attacks upon the 
frontier settlements by the Indians, that caused General Clark 
to follow them into Florida and punish them severely, and in 
this he was always upheld by the colony of Georgia and his acts 
approved by the people of the Carolinas as well. And it was 
this constant friction that brought about the early purchase of 
the Floridas by this country. It might have been possible that 
General John Clark accompanied his father on some of these 
raids, and in that way became acquainted with the charms of 
St. Andrews Bay. He was with his father during the Revolu- 
tionary campaigns, and very likely assisted him in these later 
operations in Florida. 

John Clark was a national character, his reputation ex- 
tending far beyond the limits of the state of Georgia. He was 
the oldest son of Elijah Clark, and was born in North Carolina 
on February 28th, 1766, soon being taken to Wilkes county, 
Georgia, where his father had located in 1774. At the age of 
fourteen he was sent to school in Wake county, North Caro- 
lina, but did not remain there long, for when a company was 
being recruited to go out scouting against the tories, John join- 
ed the patriot band, thus ending a schooling that had been all 
too brief and beginning his public career at the early age of 
fourteen or fifteen years. His two brothers enjoyed far better 
educational advantages, and one, Gibson, was one of the first 



St. Andrews, Florida 25 

graduates of the then University of Georgia. At six. ien John 
was appointed a lieutenant, and then a captain of tVe Militia. 
In the force commanded by his father, he fought at the siege of 
Augusta, and at the battle of Jacks Creek in 1787. Li his Revo- 
lutionary career he greatly distinguished himself, his v^alor and 
ability bringing him recognition from the state legislature, 
which elected him to the position of Brigadier-General, and 
then Major-General of the State Militia. Near the close of the 
War of. 1812, when the British threatened the South Atlantic 
coast, Major-General Clark was appointed by Governor Early 
to take charge of the coast defenses, and the southern bound- 
ary of Georgia. 

In the fight at Musgrove's Mills on August 17th, 178' 
both Captain John Clark and his father were wounded. An 
incident of this fight illustrates the character of the elder 
Clark, whom the son was very much like. This incident is de- 
scribed as follows: 

"Col. Clark fought desperately and received two 
sabre cuts on the back of his neck. At one time he was 
actually surrounded by the enemy and in charge of two 
stout cavalrymen. Renowned for his strength and activ- 
ity, he knocked one of them down, put the other to flight, 
and liberated himself from his unpleasant situation. Col. 
Clark was every inch a hero." 

Further reference to him is made by this author as fol- 
lows: "In feat of arms he was ever plucky and powerful. He 
was the most noted partizan leader in Georgia." In the many 
conflicts between the Georgians and the Indians and Spaniards. 
Major Clark was ever a leader, and in those affairs occurring 
soon after the close of the Revolutionary War, his son John ac- 
companied him. In acknowledgement of Major Elijah Clark's 
services to the colony, the legislature of Georgia presented him 
with a plantation. 

With the close of his army career, John Clark became a 
prominent political figure in Georgia. In 1816 he was chosen 
elector of president and vice-president. The Democratic-Re- 
publican party, as the party which Thomas Jefferson had 
founded was then called, was the only party in Georgia, but it 
was divided in that state into two factions, one headed by 
William H. Crawford, the other by John Clark. Between the 
leaders of these factions there was bitter rivalry and personal 
animosity which existed throughout their lives, and this enmity 



26 St. Andrews, Florida 

extended to their large and almost equal following. When 
Crawford was forced by ill health to retire from public life, 
one of his ardent admirers, G. M. Troup, became the leader 
of that faction of the party, and from thence on the fight was 
between Troup and Clark. 

Clark was elected governor of Georgia in 1819, and re- 
elected in 1821, the terms being for two years each, with a re- 
striction to two consecutive terms. This brought his term of 
office as governor to an end at the close of the year 1823. 

In the early part of the Crawford-Clark embroilment they 
fought a duel, and although Crawford was considered a dead 
shot and had killed one man in a duel, he was wounded in his 
wrist by Clark's fire, thus ending the affair. Governor Clark 
was devotedly attached to his family. He had a very beautiful 
daughter named Mary, and it is said that this duel'grew out 
of some disparaging remarks made by Crawford regarding 
Mary Clark. 

For the next four years Clark headed the opposition to 
Troup, and at the election in 1825 was agailn a candidate for 
governor, Troup being his opponent. The contest was the first 
wherein the people cast their votes for governor. The returns 
showed that Troup was elected by a majority of but 625, while 
the majority of the legislature were of the Clark party, and 
had the election been held under the old system, by the legisla- 
ture, Clark would have been again elected governor. 

He continued to take an active part in the politics of the 
day until 1827, when he decided to retire from public life, and 
in a speech before his neighbors and old friends at Milledge- 
ville he stated that he desired to retire from the cares of a 
busy life and pass the remainder of his days in peaceful 
quietude, and in accordance with that decision, at the age of 
63, he moved from Milledgeville, Ga., to the location he had 
selected for a home on the north shore of St. Andrews Bay. 

Here he erected a commodious house on the bluff, near 
the shore and fronting the bay. This house was one story in 
height, constructed of hewn pine logs, sixty feet in length, with 
an extension to the north which was used as a kitchen, etc. 
There were two large fire-places in the main part of the house, 
one on each end. Governor Clark also operated a plantation 
on the south side of Moccasin Creek, in what is known as the 



St. Andrews, Florida 27 

Econfina settlment. He was appointed, through the influence 
of his friend President Jackson, to theoffice of care-taker of 
government timber in this section, the live oak and pine, and 
that he faithfully discharged his duties in this respect is attested 
by a statement made by W. A. Gainer, in his reminisences, 
that at an early day Governor Clark stopped the cutting of 
pine which was being manufactured into lumber at Colvin's 
mill. At that date no land in this section had been surveyed 
and none was being sold. 

Old residents, both white and negro, have told the writer 
of being at Governor Clark's house, and spoke of their children 
who were at home ; also of trees that were planted by the gov- 
ernor. One of these, a fig tree, it is said was planted at the 
corner of the kitchen in 1827, and is still thriving, a large pur- 
ple fig, from the cuttings of which came most of the figs of this 
variety grown about the bay. The mint in the garden also 
dates from the governor's days here. Two grandchildren, as 
shown by the white Italian marble slab above their graves, near 
the residence of the governor, died and were buried here, the 
inscription reading: 

Erected 

to the memory 

of the children 

of 

JOHN W. & ANN W. CAMPBELL 

ANN MARIA 

Born 24th Janv 1823 

Died 3rd Sept 1829 

MARCUS ERWIN 

Born 25th Feby 1831 

Died 3rd Feby 1833 

Ann W. Campbell was one of the daughters of Governor 
Clark and wife, and must have lived here for some time with 
them. It is stated that members of the family lived in the old 
home for some years after the death of the governor and his 
wife. 

There was a charm about that seaside home which the 
governor sought for "peaceful quietude," that those of the 
present day cannot realize. Surrounded by some of their child- 
ren, often visited by old friends from Georgia, where the gov- 
ernor had been scarcely less idolized by his people than was 
General Jackson in Tennessee, looking out from the broad 



28 St. Andrews, Florida 

verandah of his home upon the beautiful waters of St. An- 
drews Bay, enjoying the sailing, fishing and bathing that it and 
the Gulf beach afforded, life was idyllic. 
"On his bold visage middle age 

Had slightly pressed its signet ring. 

Yet had not quenched the open truth 

And fiery vehemence of youth ; 

Forward and frolic glee was there, 

The will to do, the soul to dare." 
The nearest postoffice was Webbville, some sixty miles 
distant. There were warehouses where the common neces- 
sities of life could be obtained at Bay Head, on Cedar Creek, 
and on the river in Holmes valley. However, Governor Clark 
had a very fine yacht, with which trips were made to New Or- 
leans. Pensacola, and other places, and at such times house- 
hold necessities and luxuries were obtained. Until Captain 
Loftin, in 1830, built and occupied his house, which was about 
a mile east along the beach from the governor's home, the 
Clarks had no neighbors within many miles. When Clement 
and Exum surveyed this portion of the country in the fall of 
1831, and in 1832, they recorded in their field notes but two 
houses on this beach, Capt. Loftin's, about 360 feet from the 
start of the meander line at the south-east corner of section 6, 
and Governor Clark's house about 528 feet from the south- 
west corner of this fractional section. They also noted a road 
running through the north line of section 5, which they marked 
"road to Governor Clark's." This was the road leading from 
his residence to and across Bayou George, and northerly 
through the Econfina settlement, to Webbville, and on into 
Georgia. 

In the fall of 1832, Governor Clark made a trip on his 
yacht to New Orleans. Yellow fever was prevalent there that 
fall, as it usually was every year. The governor brought the 
fatal germs home with him and died from the effect thereof 
on October 12th, 1832. His wife passed away on October 26th, 
death being caused by the same disease. These two cases, with 
one of a man on East Bay who contracted the disease at St. 
Joseph, are the only cases of yellow fever ever known on St. 
Andrews Bay. In the light of present day knowledge of the 
cause and spread of yellow fever, it would appear probable 
that there were but few mosquitoes here at that time to dis- 
seminate the disease, and it ended with these two cases. 



St. Andrews, Florida 29 

Whether Mrs. Clark accompanied her husband on this trip to 
New Orleans, and there acquired the germs of the disease, is 
not definitely known, although it is quite probable that such 
was the case. 

They were both buried about three hundred feet east of 
their home on a lot which was then used for burial purposes. 
The Clark monument, and a slab showing where the grand- 
children were buried, are now at the rear of Mrs. Mary 
Moore's residence in Old Town. If others were buried there, 
as has been stated by old residents, nothing remains to mark 
their graves. Joseph F. Massalena, a Spanish subject, and a 
free negro, part Spaniard, who lived to the age of 110, dying 
some years since at his home on the peninsula, has told the 
writer of being present at the burial of Governor Clark, and as- 
sisting thereat. 

Gilmer, in his "Georgians," published in 1855, and who 
was governor of Georgia while Governor Clark was living at 
St. Andrews, states that Jackson's appointment of Clark as 
"keeper of the public forests of Florida" carried with it a lu- 
crative salary, and that he was hospitable and kind to every- 
body who came into his neighborhood. An oil painting of the 
governor hangs in the state library at Atlanta. Gilmer's sketch 
of Governor Clark gives many interesting incidents connected 
with his career, and as he and his biographer lived and held 
office contemporaneously, Gilmer's information is undoubtedly 
accurate, although possibly tinged with prejudice by reason of 
a disagreement between them. 

This affair illustrates a prominent characteristic of Gov- 
ernor Clark's temperament. It is said that the governor, with 
some of his family, was passing through Lexington, Ga., where 
Gilmer lived. The latter was a bachelor and decided that he 
would call on the governor's pretty daughter at the hotel. The 
governor invited him in for a chat, and in conversation regard- 
ing prominent Georgians, Governor Clark made reflections 
upon some of the state officers. In this Gilmer was in accord 
with him. The governor then brought charges against his old 
enemy, William H. Crawford, at that time a member of the 
United States Senate. Gilmer at once stated that he thought 
tho charges were unjust. There was then a silence and Gilmer, 
seeing that he had offended the governor, withdrew. 



30 St. Andrews, Florida 

His remaining children, Ann W. Campbell and Wiley- 
Clark, some three years after the death of their father and 
mother, erected the shapely [talian marble shaft that marks the 
last resting place of the parents, who idolized their children. 
The inscriptions on this monument are as follows: 

(North side) 

JOHN CLARK 
Born February 28th, 1766 
Died October 12th, 1832 
As an officer he was vigilant and brave, 
As a statesman, energetic and faithful. 
And as a father and friend, devoted and sincere. 

(South side) 

NANCY CLARK 
Born May 1st, 1774. 
Died October 26th, 1832. 
The wife, mother and christian in all ; 
Not from the cold dictates of duty; 
But the warm affection 
Of a pure and virtuous mind. 
(East side) 

Here reposes the remains 

of 

John Clark 

late governor of Georgia, 

and : 

Nancy Clark 
his wife. 

(West side) 

This monument 

was erected by 

his surviving children 

Ann W. Campbell 

and 

Wiley Clark. 

The following resolutions passed by a mass meeting held 
at Milledgeville, Ga., upon receipt of the news of the governor's 
death, as published in a Milledgeville paper of that date, fur- 
ther illustrate the distinctive qualities of Governor Clark : 

"A large number of citizens from every part of the 
state assembled at Milledgeville on the evening of the 16th 
(November, 1832), to express their feelings at the death 
of our late estimable fellow citizen General John Clark, 
formerly Chief Magistrate of the State, when John Wood 
was appointed Chairman, and Joseph Sturges, Esq., was 
appointed Secretary of the meeting. 



St. Andrews, Florida 31 

"The following preamble and resolutions were sub- 
mitted by John C. Cuthbert, Esq., and were unanimously 
adopted : 

" 'This assembly of the citizens of Georgia convened 
on the afflictive intelligence of the decease of our late dis- 
tinguished citizen, and of his respected consort, with 
strong emotions of grief feel it to be a melancholy but a 
grateful duty to render honor to departed worth. In the 
death of General John Clark his country has sustained a 
severe bereavement, and his friends have suffered an ir- 
reparable loss; but his memory will live long in the hearts 
of his countrymen, and his example will light them to the 
paths of honor and patriotism. 

" 'In the green days of his unripened boyhood, we 
honor that ardent courage which prom.pted him to encoun- 
ter the dangers of battle, and that unshaken constancy 
which sustained him in enduring the hardships and priva- 
tions of the camp. At the age of fourteen, he was a soldier 
of the revolution. 

" 'In his mature years, we admire that integrity of 
heart, that warmth of affection, and fixedness of purpose, 
which marked him as an upright man, a disinterested pat- 
riot, a generous and constant friend, a pure, energetic and 
constant statesman. We revere that unalterable resolu- 
tion and inflexible virtue, which never yielded to an en- 
emy, which never forsook a friend, which never swerved 
from duty to his country. 

" 'Be it therefore Resolved, That in honor of his mem- 
ory, and in token of grief at his decease, and of his respect- 
ed, admirable and pious consort, his partner in life and 
death, we will, and his friends throughout the state are 
requested to wear crape on the left arm for thirty days. 

" 'Be it further Resolved, That the proceedings of this 
meeting be published in the Gazette of the State ; and that 
a copy be sent to the surviving kindred of the deceased.' " 
In the records of the D. A. R., a Mrs. Nancy Clark Williams 
Moore states that Governor Clark's wife's name was Nancy 
Williams, and that one daughter was named Nancy Williams 
Clark. It is known that there was also a daughter named 
Mary, and one named Ann W., and a son named Wiley. We 
have been unable to locate other children of Governor Clark 
and wife, if there were any. 

The house that the governor built was one of those destroy- 
ed when the town of St. Andrews was shelled by a Federal 
gunboat, in December, 1863. Although not a house in the 
place escaped destruction, and cannon balls cut off many trees, 



32 St. Andrews, Florida 

no damage was done to the monument that stood in the midst 
of the little hamlet. 

Although his handiwork has been destroyed and his mem-' 
ory is almost a forgotten page of history, yet about his old 
home and by his grave the mocking birds continue to usher in 
the day with their matins and greet the evening star with their 
vespers ; the whip-poor-will repeats its plaintive notes through- 
out the night from the magnolias and cedars, the waters ripple 
upon the sandy beach, and he storm tides send forth their deep- 
er notes from the shores of the Gulf as they did when Governor 
Clark and his estimable and pious wife were charmed and 
solaced by these sounds from Nature's choirsters. The world 
may have forgotten this remarkable man, but these songsters 
and the endless rush of the waters have never failed to chant 
their requiem over the secluded, forgotten and uncared-for 
grave of this earnest patriot, devoted friend and affectionate 
parent; Nature's never-ending tribute to an honest, courageous 
and virile man. 

The next family to settle within the present limits of St. 
Andrews, after Governor Clark's, was that of William Loftin, 
who removed from his home on North Bay to the house he had 
built, a mile east of the Clark home, in 1830. Mr. Loftin was 
a prominent character in the early days of St. Andrews Bay. 
He came from North Carolina, where he was a surveyor and 
planter; he had served in the War of 1812, and was an ener- 
getic, far-sighted man. It is stated by his descendants that he 
probably came here soon after the close of the 1812 conflict. 
He was engaged with Representative J. M. White and Henry 
Rivere in an effort to establish a city on East Bay. west of 
Parker, and laid it out, naming it Austerlitz. He removed from 
his residence east of Clark's to the new location near the pres- 
ent site of Parker, probably when engaged in promoting that 
venture. He was in charge of the custom house at that point 
at one time, and was granted by the legislature the right to 
operate a ferry between Ferry and Military Points, where the 
old military road to St. Joe crossed East Bay. On November 
5th, 1835, William Loftin bought of the government the west 
half of the southwest quarter of section 13, township 4 south, 
range 14 west, and on November 15th of the same year, pur- 
chased the north half of the northwest quarter and the south- 
west quarter of the northwest quarter of section 12. It was 



St. Andrews, Florida 33 

probably somewhere about this date that he built him a house 
nrnr Parker. Mrs. Eliza Porter Mashburn, who resided here in 
St. Andrews many years before her death in 1918, stated that 
her mother was William Loftin's daughter, and that she, Mrs. 
Mashburn, nee Porter, was born at Port St. Joe in 1840. An- 
other daughter married Peter Parker, Sr. William Loftin died 
in 1845, and his was one of the earliest burials in the Parker 
cemetery. 

There was intense rivalry between the parties who hoped 
to establish a metropolis, possibly the state capital, on the 
shores of St. Andrews Bay, and the city of St. Joseph, which is 
illustrated in the following rather sarcastic account by Peter 
W .Gautier, Jr., editor of the St. Joseph Times, of a trip made 
to St. Andrews Bay in September, 1839. He says: 

"We visited the old settlement near the pass, now de- 
serted and decaying, and then turned to the new city of 
Austerlitz, which is divided into four municipalities, the 
whole city at present consisting of one dwelling house, and 
appurtenances in the suburbs. The center of the city 
would be an appropriate spot to say 'How sweet is soli- 
tude' if anyone could ever be enticed there to listen to the 
remark." 

From which it would appear that the cit'zens of St. Joseph 
were not actively engaged in promoting Austerlitz, and used 
twentieth century methods of oxpressing their antav'onism. 
1 oftin and Rivere had explored this country very thor. uj^hly 
between 1820 and 1835 and had secured a num.ber of outside 
capitalists, probably from the northeastern part of the country, 
to join them in promoting a port and city on this bay. These 
capitalists came, inspected both St. Andrews Bay and St. Jo- 
seph, and concluded to invest at the latter place. Loftin and 
Rivere asked for the money they had invested in the company, 
which was paid over, and the promotion was broken up. 

Florida had been in the possession of the United States for 
some ten or twelve years before any effort was made to survey 
this section of the state, and until that was done, no title could 
be given to the land. This immediate vicinity was surveyed 
by Clement, Exum & Clement, in the second quarter of 1831, 
and the first quarter of 1832. For this work they received $4 
per mile of line located. Nearly all of the land lying along the 
shores of St. Andrews Bay was reserved by the government at 



34 St. Andrews, Florida 

the time of the survey and was not released until many years 
afterward. 

The first census taken in Florida was that of 1830. At 
that time Washington county, in which St. Andrews was locat- 
ed, had but 978 population; Jackson county had 3,907, Wal- 
ton 1,207, and Escambia 2,518. This comprised all the popula- 
tion of West Florida at that date. 

In the early '30s some of the Jackson county planters 
used to come to St. Andrews during the fishing season and 
make this their headquarters while taking and salting down 
quantities of fish for use on their plantations. St. Joseph was 
started in 1836, but before that time parties on St. Andrews 
Bay had secured a charter to construct a canal, their organiza- 
tion to be called the St. Andrews and Chipola Canal Company. 
This act of the territorial legislature was approved by the gov- 
ernor on February 10th, 1832. Nothing appears to have come 
of this incorporation, and the panic of 1837 undoubtedly end- 
ed all prospects of raising funds for such work. However, it 
continued to be talked of, for in Turner's "Canals and Railroads 
of the United States," published in 1840, among the proposed 
works noted was a "Canal from St. Andrews Bay to Chipola." 
On July 4th, 1832, congress passed a bill appropriating $3,000 
for a survey for canal purposes, between St. Andrews and 
Choctawhatchee Bays, and between Pensacola Bay and Bon 
Secour. 

By 1838 parties in Jackson county had begun the initiatory 
work of forming a company to build a town on St. Andrews 
Bay, and a site was selected for the purpose in that part of our 
city now known as Old Town. The legislature of 1843 granted 
the following charter for this purpose: 

"No. X 1. An Act to be entitled an act to incorporate 
the Directors and Trustees of the St. Andrews Bay Land 
Company. 

"Section 1. Be it enacted by the Governor and the 
legislative Council of the Territory of Florida — That Jes- 
see Coe, Richard H. Long, Benjamin Wynn, William Booth, 
William Nichols and Walter J. Robinson, and their asso- 
ciates and assigns are hereby constituted a body corporate 
and politic under the name and style of the 'Directors and 
Trustees of the St. Andrews Bay Land Company;' and by 
that name they, their heirs, successors and assigns shall 
have perpetual succession and shall be capable in law to 



St, Andrews, Florida 35 

purchase, hold, receive, retain, and enjoy, to them, their 
heirs, successors and assigns, lands, tenements, goods and 
chattels, of any kind and description whatsoever, neces- 
sary to carry on the business and concerns of said Com- 
pany, and the same to grant, mortgage, sell and dispose of 
agreeably to the provisions of cert?in articles of associa- 
tion entered into by said Corporation and entitled 'Articles 
of association of the St. Andrews Bay Land Company.' 
dated the Fifth day of February, A. D. 1838, and recorded 
in the office of the county court of Jackson county, in said 
Territory, on the second day of November, A, D. 1841; 
and shall have the power to sue and be sued, plead and be 
impleaded; end to make and use a common seal, and the 
same to break, alter and amend at their pleasure; and to 
ordain, establish, and put in execution such by laws and 
regulations not inconsistent with the aforesaid articles of 
association as may be deemed necessary and expedient by 
said Directors and Trustees for their government, and not 
being contrary to the Constitution of the United States, 
and the laws of this Territory. 

"Section 2. Be it further enacted. That the powers, 
rights and liabilities of said Directors and Trustees and 
subscribers to the said articles of association, the purposes 
and objects of said company, the stock thereof, and all the 
transactions and business of said Company shall be gov- 
erned, regulated, defined determined, and executed, in 
conformity with the articles of association aforesaid and 
said articles shall be held and recognized in law as valid 
and binding upon all interested in said Company, and all 
other persos or bodies corporate whatsoever. 

"Section 3, Be it further enacted. That nothing con- 
tained in this charter shall be construed as to give any 
banking privileges and that this act shall be subject to be 
modified, amended or repealed by any future legislature 
of the State or Territory of Florida." 
Approved 9 March, 1843. 
This was the first land company incorporated for the pur- 
pose of developing St, Andrews, There is a map in the Con- 
gressional Library at Washington with this notation on it: 
"Oct. 14 — 1835. Surveyor's Office, Florence, Alabama, gives 
certificate of map issued by John A. Tourette," published by 
J. B. Colton & Co., on which St. Andrews is shown as occupy- 
ing the bay front of Section 6, Township 4 South, Range 14 
West, and of Section 1, Township 4 South, Range 15 West. 
This map also shows the route of the proposed canal from the 
bend in the Wetappo to the lower end of what is now known 



36 St. Andrews, Florida 

as the Dead Lakes, a distance, as marked on this map, of ten 
miles. 

I. G. Searcy published a map, dated Tallahassee, 1829, 
from data taken from the Land Office there, in which all that 
territory between Port Washington and the Apalachicola river 
is marked as "Ineranhity's Claim." On this map an island is 
shown in the north end of St. Joseph's Bay, also St. Andrews 
Island. 

The Pensacola Gazette, of March 3rd, 1838, has a list of 
acts passed by the Legislative Council, one of which is an act 
to authorize the "St. Andrews and Chipola Canal and Railroad 
Company to establish the Books of Record of the Company, and 
all other papers lost by said fire." From this act it would ap- 
pear that the charter which had been secured for the building 
of the canal was subsequently enlarged to include a railroa|3. 
The same paper has the following in the list of acts 
passed, "chartering and incorporating the Trustees of the St. 
Andrews College in West Florida, Act approved Feb'y 8th, 
1838," with the following list of trustees: "James Bright, N. 
H. Mitchell, Richard Fitzpatrick, John Bryan, Jos. Croskey, 
Neil McPherson, Peter Gautier Jr., Jessee Willis, Simmons J. 
Baker, James T. Pittman, Jessee Coe, John Branch, Trustees 
of St. Andrews College." 

It was provided in this act that the judges of the Supreme 
Court and presiding officers of both branches of the Legislature 
and Senators and Representatives in Congress should be ex- 
officio honorary members of said board. Section 8 of this Act 
reads as follows: 

"Be it further enacted that said college shall be lo- 
cated on the sixteenth section of township four, range four- 
teen south and wept in the county of Washington : Pro- 
vided the assent of Congress can be thereunto obtained ; 
and if the same is not done, then the said trustees may lo- 
cate the same at such place as they may deem best: Pro- 
vided the said location shall be made on the Bay of St. 
Andrews." 

According to the records in the land office at Gainesville, 
section six, township four south, range fourteen west, except 
the fractional west half of the south-west quarter, was entered 
by James Watson in 1836. He was erecting a saw-mill on 
Watson's Bayou, and bought up a large amount of land in this 
vicinity for the timber there was upon it. 



St. Andrews, Florida 37 

The legislature of 1838 memorialized Congress for an ap- 
propriation of $5,000 for the purpose as stated of "opening 
and putting in repair the road laid out by James Watson and 
others from a point near the house of Peter W. Gautier, senior, 
on St. Andrews Bay, to its intersection with the Compass road, 
thence with that road to Dry Creek near McQuaigge's mill, 
thence to the nearest and best route to Webbville in the county 
of Jackson." This memorial was adoped February 5th, 1838. 
Just where Peter W. Gautier, Sr.. resided on St. Andrews Bay, 
we have not been able to ascertain. He was a Methodist min- 
ister at St. Joseph at one time, and was possibly engaged in 
that calling while living on St. Andrews Bay. 

In 1839 Congress passed a relief act in favor of Henry Ri- 
vere, relative to some of the land he had been platting at and 
near Austerlitz. White, Rivere and Loftin were the leading 
men in the promotion project on East Bay at that time. 
Through the eastern capital abandoning them and their propo- 
sition and going to St. Joseph, that place secured one of the 
first railroads in the United States, built in 1837, and the St. 
Andrews Bay project was ruined. 

The early settlement of St. Andrews, along the bluff by 
Governor Clark's place, was made by those from the interior 
who wished for a home on the bay during the summer months. 
At other times the houses were deserted, and only a few fisher- 
men resided here. These early settlers included the families 
of Simmons J. Baker, Capt. Wynne, Capt. Billy Wynne. Felix 
G. Long, Mr. Godwin, David Blackshear, Jesse Coe. Marma- 
duke N. Dickson, Messrs. Russ, Robinson, and a few others, 
nearly all from Jackson county. The tavern, as the Clark 
house was called, was also occupied, and one of the first to 
live there was a Major Armstead and family. 

In the reminisences of Dr. J. W. Keyes, published many 
years ago in a Wewahitchka paper, he refers to Major Arm- 
stead keeping the hotel in 1841-42. and gives us the only par- 
ticulars we have found of one of the early settlers of St. An- 
drews, who was a rather remarkable character. The Doctor's 
narrative is as follows: 

"In the olden time the mail was brought on horse 
from Marianna once a week. In the winter of '41, or 
spring of '42, there began to arrive in the mail, the London 



38 St. Andrews, Florida 

Times, the Limerick Chronicle, Punch, the three British 
'Reviews and other magazines; the North American Re- 
view and the Daily New York Herald. Week after week 
they came, with letters from London, Dublin, New York 
and New Orleans. 

''One fair day a neat little sloop of about a ton and a 
half came gracefully up from the Pass with one man on 
board. Major Armstead was keeping the hotel, and to 
him the master of the sloop applied for board and lodging 
for one month. He registered as David R. Blood, and 
proved to be the party to whom the mail matter above men- 
tioned was addressed. 

"Before the month expired Mr. Blood concluded to 
remain another month ^nd one of Major Armstead's 
daughters had named the black-coated sloop, 'Widow,' 
and dubbed the owner, 'Captain.' No small boat ever 
sailed the waters of St. Andrews Bay, or resident upon 
its beach became more widely known than the Widow 
and Captain Blood. It was my good fortune to become 
intimately acquainted with Capt. Blood, for his visit of 
one month lengthened into twelve years. Taken 'by and 
large' he was the completest man I have ever known. He 
was about six feet three inches tall, broad-chested, no 
surplus flesh; indeed, physical perfection. He was a fine 
scholar, fluent in French and acquainted with other lan- 
guages. He seemed to h^ve read everything, to have been 
everywhere, and to have personally inspected all that there 
was worth seeing in Europe, England and America. He 
was a skillfu] workman in copper, iron and wood, and 
had tools of all kinds. He had philosophical instruments, 
chemical apparatus of every description, was a keen 
sportsman and had every gun from an air gun to a can- 
non and mortar. 

"So enthused he became with St. Andrews that he 
bought two lots next beyond where Governor Clark is 
buried, and built thereon a very unique house. I should 
like to describe that house, but for the space it would take. 

"He told me that he had lived all about the Mediter- 
ranean, France, England, and all along the Atlantic coast 
of the United States ; on the West India Islands, Key West, 
Mobile, New Orleans, etc., and nowhere had he found a 
place equal in beauty, better for health, or comparable for 
climate with St. Andrews. 

"Captain Blood being connected in some way with a 
law suit in England, left St. Andrews in 1857. 

"I was then living in Montgomery. He called to see 
me, bringing me some rare old books. That was the last 
time I saw him. Some months after, I received a letter 



St. Andrews, Florida 39 

from him at Malta where he said he had located and had 
his boats, his gardens, his shooting gallery, etc. Some time 
in 1865 I received from him a long letter with his photo- 
graph. He ended his letter by saying: 'Well. Doctor, if I 
were not so far on the shady side of seventy I would go 
back to our old bay and invite you to come and live with 
me.' " 

Captain Blood's house, we are informed by those who 
were here before the Civil War. was located about where Cap- 
tain Bert Ware now resides. His many guns, boats, tools and 
instruments were the wonderment of the old time darkies, who 
rather looked with awe upon him. He was always praising St. 
Andrews Bay. and his was an expression of approbation that 
grew out of an intelligent and observing traveler's knowledge 
of almost every civilized portion of the world. 

Education appears to have been a subject of great interest 
to many of the early settlers of St. Andrews who resided here 
during the summer. Tradition tells us that the two story house 
of Jesse Coe, located where Capt. C. D. Smith now resides, was 
used for the purpose of carrying on a "Female Academy," 
while the efforts heretofore described to organize the "St. An- 
drews College" point to active work along educational lines. 
The removal to this section of the daughter of Mrs. Caroline 
Lee Hentz, Julia L., soon after her marriage to Dr. J. W. Keyes 
at Tuskegee, in 1846, was possibly another incentive to the 
educational efforts of the citizens of "St. Andrews City," as it 
was even then named on the maps. Mrs. Keyes partook to a 
large extent of the talents of her gifted mother who, besides 
her remarkable career as a writer, was equally prominent as 
an educator. 

Dr. J. W. Keyes and family at one time occupied the Clark 
house. His wife being the daughter of Caroline Lee Hentz. 
and the latter living at Marianna, this famous writer of the mid- 
dle of the last century spent much time at her daughter's home 
here. 

Mrs. Caroline Lee Whiting Hentz was a remarkable edu- 
cator and writer. She was the daughter of General John Whit- 
ing, an officer in the Revolutionary War and who, at his death 
in 1810, was colonel of the 5th infantry. One of his sons was 
an officer in the Mexican War and was a writer of note. Caro- 
line, in 1824, married Nicholas. Marcellus Hentz, a native of 



40 St. Andrews, Florida 

Versailles, France, who came to this country in 1816. They 
were both distinguished educators, occupying prominent po- 
sitions in schools and colleges in several states during their 
many years at that work. Caroline Lee Hentz was a precocious 
writer. Before she was twelve years of age she had written a 
poem, a novel and a tragedy, and at a very early age was 
awarded a prize of $500 that had been offered for a play by the 
Arch Street Theatre in Philadelphia. 

In 1851, owing to Professor Hentz' failing health, they 
removed to Marianna, and the many works of fiction written 
by Mrs. Hentz between that time and her death in February, 
1856, were composed there and at the residence of her daugh- 
ter here in St. Andrews. A biographical sketch of Mrs. Hentz, 
published some years ago in "The Sunny South," had the fol- 
lowing relative to this period of her life : 

"The last few years of her life were spent in the Land 
of Flowers between M-'ri'nn •. rs c. v^^inter home and St. 
Andrews Bay as a summer resort. She never saw her last 
work in print, for suddenly the messenger came to call her 
hence. After an illness of only a few days, 'The silver 
cord was loosed and the bowl w- s broken.' As a fitting 
close to her life work, the week before her death she wrote 
a beautiful tract. 'No Cross No Crown.' In it we see pic- 
tures from her religious life." 

She was buried at Marianna. and over the grave stands a 
broken shaft with this inscription thereon: "My purposes are 
broken off," and "The pure in heart shall see God." 

Her novels that were probably wholly or partly written 
here on St. Andrews Bay are "Marcus Warland, or the Long 
Moss Spring;" "The Lost Daughter;" "Robert Graham," a se- 
quel to "Linda;" and "Ernest Linwood." This last work, writ- 
ten just before her death, is said to have been the opening of 
her own heart to the world, but this is true only in a minor 
sense. Incidents are introduced that bear a resemblance to 
events that happened in her life, but without the reader's know- 
ledge of them this work reveals very little of her remarkable 
career. In the closing chapter of this work she brings her 
various characters to the seashore which, from the description, 
could have been no other place than the home of her daughter, 
the Governor Clark house, where she spent so many happy 
days during the last years of her life. Of this she says: 

"Come to this beautiful cottage on the sea-shore, 



St. Andrews, Florida 41 

where we have retired from the heat of summer, and you 
can tell by a glance whether time has scattered blossoms 
or thorns in my path, during its rapid flight. 

"Come to the piazza that faces the beach, and you 
can look out on an ocean of molten gold, crimsoned here 
and there by the rays of the setting sun, and here and 
there melting off" into a kind of burning silver. A glorious 
breeze is beginning to curl the waters, and to swell the 
white sails of the skiffs and light vessels that skim the tide 
like birds of the air, apparently instinct with life and glad- 
ness. It rustles through the foliage, the bright, green fo- 
liage, that contrasts so dazzlingly with the smooth, white, 
sandy beach." 

She causes the various characters of which she has writ- 
ten in her novel to pass in review, as they promenade along the 
white, sandy beach, passing beneath the old pine which still 
towers as a landmark in front of the location of the cottage, 
and of them she says: "They walk on thoughtfully, pensively, 
sometimes looking down on the smooth, continuous beach, then 
upward to the mellow and glowing heavens." 

She concludes this, the last novel she ever wrote, with 
these words : 

"We, too, are passing on in the procession of life, and 
the waves of time that are rolling behind us will wash 
away the print of our footsteps, and others will follow, 
and others still, but few will be tossed on stormier seas. 
or be anchored at last in a more blissful haven." 

St. Andrews Bay has proven a "blissful haven" for many 
since this prophetic sentence was penned, and many more will 
find peace upon its beautiful shores in days and years to come. 

That Mrs. Caroline Lee Hentz was popular in the little 
social circle of the St. Andrews City of 1851-56, is shown by 
the action of the Coast Survey officers, who were here at that 
time and who named the bayou at the east end of Old Town, 
"Caroline," in honor of this famous author, and so marked it 
on the government chart. 

The last time Mrs. Hentz visited the bay she seemed to 
have a premonition that she would not see it again. As the 
team that was conveying her to Marianna started from her 
residence here, she turned and waved her hand in farewell to 
the bay. When asked why she did so, she replied : "I fear I 
will never see my beautiful bay again." And though she was 
in the enjoyment of good health at the time, she soon afterward 



42 St. Andrews, Florida 

fell ill with pneumonia, which caused her death in a very few 
days. Thus passed to the great beyond the most famous writer 
that has ever made St. Andrews her home. 

Her daughter, Julia L. Hentz Keyes, was a well known 
writer of poetry, much of which was written during the trying 
days of the Civil War, though she had furnished many poems 
to the press before that time. Some of these poems were writ- 
ten while she resided here. In 1859, while living at Montgom- 
ery, she wrote a prize poem entitled "A Dream of Locust Dell," 
that being the name of the place near Florence, Ala., where 
her father and mother maintained a well known school for 
many years, while Mrs. Keyes was a young lady. 

One of her daughters married Dr. J. W. Coachman, who 
was one of the party consisting of Dr. Keyes and others that 
left this country soon after the close of the Civil War and took 
up their residence in Brazil. Dr. Coachman became a noted 
dentist in Rio de Janerio, doing the work of the emperor. In 
1919 he had published in Brazil, a little volume of the poems 
of "Julia L. Keyes," which, it is stated on the title page, was 
"Compiled and published in affectionate remembrance by J. W. 
C. & J. C. D." In an introductory note to this volume, Mrs. 
Keyes is described as follows: 

"Her distinguishing characteristics, as described by 
one who knew her intimately and well, were modesty, 
kindness, and beauty of imagination, delicacy of taste, 
wide sympathy and refinement of feeling. A most gentle 
and lovable disposition was hers." 

The first poem in this collection, entitled "My Mother," was 
possibly written while the family lived here. The first and 
third verses follow : 

"My Mother! now I know full well 

The debt I owe to thee, 
Oh ! would that I had felt it 

When a child beside thy knee. 
Mine every word should have been breathed 

In mild and gentle tone. 
And deep devotion should have been 

In every action shown. 

"And now I often wish to live 

Again those vanished hours. 
That when we had scattered thorns 

We might have woven flowers. 
Heaven bless my Mother! God be praised 

For such a guide to youth ; 
A heart and mind to lead my soul 

To wisdom, love and truth." 



St. Andrews, Florida 43 

Both Dr. Keyes and his wife were buried at Wewahitchka. 
Many of our old settlers were well acquainted with the genial 
doctor, and many pleasant hours have we spent in listening to 
his tales of early days on St. Andrews Bay. 

In reading some published letters written by Caroline Lee 
Hentz in 1852, describing journeys taken by her from the 
Apalachicola River to Quincy, we find a description of the 
damage done east of the river by the hurricane of August, 1851. 
This was the storm that destroyed the old light house on Cape 
San Bias, and probably swept away part of Hammock Island, 
causing the name Hurricane to be given that island. Of the 
damage done after the storm passed inland Mrs. Hentz says: 

"After crossing the river, the ride through the pine 
woods is lonely and monotonous, only at long intervals 
interrupted by signs of human habitancy. At every step 
the ruins of the tremendous August gale are visible. Les 
cadavres des arbres. as Chauteaubriand calls them — 
corpses of trees, gigantic pine trees, lie piled upon each 
other, like fallen heroes on a battle plain — and the road 
is constantly making zigzag freaks, to avoid desecrating 
these forest remains. 

"We had been told that the summer storm had made 
fearful ravages here (Quincy), but in the dense oaken 
groves and among the magnificent shade trees which 
adorn and embosom the place, we look in vain for the foot- 
prints of the angel of the whirlwind. We can see, how- 
ever, many proofs of its visitation. Under the window by 
which we are seated, there is an orange tree nearly twenty 
feet in height. The topmost branches are all blighted and 
leafless ; only the lower boughs retain their vitality. All 
the orange trees here are blasted in their bloom, and the 
cultivation of years destroyed." 

While touching upon the subject of storms, it may be well 
to narrate here the history of the most destructive ones that 
have visited this section of the Gulf, the eff'ects of which have 
been noticeable here on St. Andrews Bay. 

As noted previously, the first record of a tropical storm 
having visited this immediate coast was that of September, 
1558. Undoubtedly other hurricanes swept this part of the 
north Gulf between that date and those of which a record has 



44 St. Andrews, Florida 

been preserved since Florida became a part of the United 
States. In fact marked changes have occurred in the barrier 
between St. Andrews Bay and the Gulf within the history 
handed down by our oldest inhabitants. Tradition informs us 
that at one time there was but one common entrance to both 
St. Joseph and St. Andrews Bays, and that the barrier extended 
continuously from St. Joe Point to Woods End. Charts that 
have been made of St. Joseph Bay show very deep water in 
the northern end of it, and if this tradition be founded on fact, 
the entrance to these bays was probably near the head of 
Crooked Island Sound. 

Storms that have been recorded ?s occurring in this por- 
tion of the Gulf that were undoubtedly felt in St. Andrews Bay 
and on the adjacent Gulf be-^ich. are that of September 14th, 
1841, that did much damage at St. Joseph; and the storm of 
October 4th and 5th, 1842. which seriously damaged the gov- 
ernment camps and docks at Cedar Keys, and must have been 
severe this near to that place. The storm that virtually wiped 
out St. Joseph was that of September 8th, 1844, and was severe 
here. The tropical storm of 1851 destroyed the light-house on 
Cape San Bias and, crossing the northern part of the state, 
caused much damage as narrated by Mrs. Hentz, 

The worst storm of which we have any record as having 
visited St. Andrews Bay was that of 1856. This occurred early 
in August, and was undoubtedly the one that Lafcadio Hearn 
describes so graphically in "Chita, a Memory of Last Island." 
There were more than thirty houses standing on the bluff at 
that date in what is now known as Old Town, and the tide was 
higher in the bay than was ever known before or since. It 
washed away the face of this bluff, eating back into it for 
quite a distance. Mr. Thomas J. Dickson, son of Marmaduke 
N. Dickson, in describing the effects of this storm, says: 

"While my father's family were at his Old Town resi- 
dence in the summer of 1856, there came a very violent 
storm which lasted for quite awhile, but the worst of it 
was from about four in the afternoon, through the night 
and until daybreak the next day, when the wind changed 
somewhat, but the water stood in a flood tide for perhaps 
twelve hours longer. During the storm the bluff was 
washed away right up to the houses of my father, of Mr. 
Felix Long and Mr. Godwin, and it was thought if the 
storm had lasted six hours longer these houses would have 



St. Andrews, Florida 45 

been carried completely away. As it was the steps at my 
father's were undermined and one pillar of the house 
washed out, and the bluff washed into the bay, changing 
the width of the beach and the depth of the water in front 
and necessitating the removal of these houses back from 
the edge of the bluff for some distance." 

The bench between the bluff and the waters of the bay, as 
shown in the west end of Panama City, was caused by this 
storm. A smack lay at anchor ne?r Hawk's Point when the 
storm was on. The men abo?rd went to sleep in their bunks 
and when they .""woke in the morning the vessel was on the 
beach, at the b've oaks just west of the old Baker homestead, 
with the masts up among the limbs of the trees. This storm is 
described by those who were here at the time as one of some 
six dnys duration, the greatest damage having been done on 
the last dfiy. The tide rose to a height of 11 feet. For five days 
the wind hpd been rushing the waters of the Gulf into the bay, 
when on the sixth day the gale increased as the wind went to 
the southwest and the mountainous waves cut away the bluff. 
This storm undoubtedly opened West Pass, which was closed 
again in 1861 and remained closed until 1881. With the clos- 
ing of West Pass the East Pass began to deepen, and in 1870 
Capt. Barrow found 21 feet of water through it. In 1876 Hawk 
Massalena took out the schooner Alpha Cole, lumber laden, 
and there was 21 feet of water there at that time. 

A storm in August, 1864, closed up the east opening at 
Crooked Island, probably the old entrance to St. Joseph and 
St. Andrews Bays, since which it has never been open. The 
charts show that there used to be an 18 foot channel there. A 
storm in August, 1886, was a very severe one here, the wind 
blowing hard for two days, the principal damage being done 
on the second day. The wind blew on the first day from the 
southeast, filling the bay with a high tide, and on the second 
day it shifted to the southwest. As the waters of this tide went 
out of the bay they cut a channel through the reef at Spanish 
Shanty Cove, but it was closed again in a short time by the 
westerly winds. In 1894 there was another severe storm here, 
which cut off the west end of Crooked Island. The next severe 
hurricane was that of September 27th, 1906, which did much 
damage to docks about the bay; opened up again the pass in 
Spanish Shanty Cove ; made a cut through Hurricane Island, 
and drove the tide into North Bay to a height of nearly ten feet 
in places. 



46 St. Andrews, Florida 

However, none of these storms, except that of 1856, have 
done much damage to property on St. Andrews Bay, and vessels 
and small craft have weathered them all at their usual anchor- 
ages. During the hurricane of 1906 we were out on the waters 
of the bay in our launch every day, as we were in the other 
storms that visited this bay between that date and 1916. A 
very full report of these storms was furnished Capt. H. B. Fer- 
guson by the writer of this article, and printed in H. R. Docu- 
ment No. 12, of the first session of the 61st Congress. 

The first survey of St. Andrews Bay was made by the 
forces under the British Admiralty, vv^hich work was begun as 
soon as Great Britain obtained possession of the Floridas. The 
chart made from this survey is on file in the m?ip department of 
the Congressional Library at Washington, and the title states 
that it is "An accurate chart of the Coast of West Florida, sur- 
veyed in the years 1764-65-66-67-68-69-70-71, by George Gauld, 
M. A." 

The next map of importance is that made by John Lee Wil- 
liams and published in his work on West Florida, which has 
been referred to heretofore. Searcy's map gives but a poor 
outline of St. Andrews Bay, as does the 1835 map of Tourette. 
In 1840 the entrance to St. Andrews Bay was surveyed by Lieu- 
tenant Commander L. W. Powell, in the brig Consort. He had 
been surveying St. Joseph Bay, and was thereafter surveying 
the entrance of this bay, and at Cat Island, for the purpose of 
ascertaining the best location for a naval base. He reported 
finding 17 feet of water in the main pass, 13 in the east pass, 
and 14 feet in the west pass. The distribution of tidal current 
iij and out of the bay through these three passes kept all of 
them shallow. 

In 1842 the Legislature memorialized Congress to place 
fortifications at the entrance of St. Andrews Bay. Why this 
was done is not stated. It was during President Harrison's ad- 
ministration, and the subject of harbor improvements was one 
that was attracting the attention of the inhabiants of the entire 
seacoast. Trouble wih Mexico was also looming up, both of 
which may have been the cause of this memorial. 

The first survey by the Coast and Geodetic Survey was be- 
gun in a preliminary way about 1849. The first chart of this 
bay issued by the government was that of 1855. It is entitled 



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St. Andrews, Florida 47 

"Preliminary chart of St. Andrews Bay, Florida, from a Trigo- 
nometrical Survey under the direction of A. D. Bache, Superin- 
tendent of the Survey of the Coast of the United States. Tri- 
angulation by F. H. Gerdes, Assistant; Topography by G. D. 
Wise, Assistant ; Hydrography by the Party, under command of 
O. H. Berryman, U. S. N. Asst." An astronomical station was 
established on the east end of Hurricane Island and it is stated 
that the magnetic observations were made by F. H. Gerdes in 
February, 1854. The triangulation was executed in 1854-55, 
?nd the topography and hydrography in 1855. The variation 
of the needle in February, 1854, is given as 6 degrees and 12 
minutes east. For 1920 it is given on the government charts 
as 3 degrees, 30 minutes east, annual change 0. The latitude 
of the station was 30 degrees, 4 minutes, 23 seconds north : 
longitude 85 degrees, 38 minutes, 36 seconds west. 

The work done by this party was confined to the lower bay, 
from near Watson's Bayou on the east, to the mouth of the 
Lagoon on the west, and from Crooked Island on the south, to 
Dyers Point on the north, soundings being taken only in that 
portion of the bay. The old military road is shown as coming to 
the north shore of the bay at Military Point, nehr Parker, and 
continuing southward on the opposite side, from Ferry Point. 
There was also a road shown as leading out to the northward 
from "Saint Andrews City." 

The old chart shows Saint Andrews City as extending 
along the beach some three-fourths of a mile on the south 
shore. The changes that have occurred in the shore line of 
the bay, other than those resulting from the storm of 1856. are 
inconsequential. There were no buoys at that date marking 
the entrance to the bay, but bushes were placed at the east en- 
trance, indicating the location of the channel. Vessels were 
piloted in and out by those fishermen who were well acquaint- 
ed with the channels. 

This map shows 32 buildings in the city of Saint Andrews, 
and that is the number said to have been burned at the bom- 
bardment of the place in December. 1863. But few of them, 
probably only three or four, were occupied during the winter, 
these being the hotel kept in the Clark house ; a store kept by 
a Jew namefd Fleischman ; Capt. Blood's house, and possibly 
one more. Early in the summer the others were occupied by 
the owners, who came here to spend a greater portion of the 



48 St. Andrews, Florida 

warm weather, remaining until late in autumn. The most of 
these people were from and near Marianna and Greenwood, 
but some came from Alabama and Georgia. 

Besides enjoying an outing, there were those who, owning 
plantations at their inland homes, put in part of the time in 
catching and curing fish, to be used on their plantations. The 
fishing here has always attracted attention, and was the direct 
cause of drawing many to this bay. The first notice we have 
of fish here is that by DeVaca, the historian of Narvarez voy- 
age, when the party entered this bay, to which reference is 
made on page 3 of this volume. Undoubtedly the interior In- 
dians came here at the season when game was scarce and sea- 
sonal vegetation ended, and lived on the fish and oysters found 
in the bay. 

From James Grant Forbes' "Sketches of the History and 
Topography of Florida," published in New York in 1821, we 
find the following interesting account of possibly the first 
record of large vessels or smacks fishing in this immediate 
vicinity. The article quoted was written by one of Gauld's 
men employed in the British coast survey, who, after the sur- 
vey was completed, went to Jrmaica in 1772. Under date of 
June 3rd of that year he wrote of this section as follows: 

"I hope a settlement will be m?>de there some time or 
other. It is a place that deserves to be taken notice of. 
Last summer (1771) . we met there four Spanish schooners 
fishing off the coast while they had large stages erected 
for curing the fish which they caught in great plenty, and 
were to carry to the Havanna against Lent. They told 
that each schooner m-^de abo-ut two thousand dollars a 
trip. There are six in the trade from the Havanna em- 
ployed in that business. This is an object worth the atten- 
tion of British subjects." 

Taking into consideration the value of a dollar at that 
time, the amount received for the trip is remarkable. There 
are records of Spanish fishermen in this section prior to that 
date, and the fish, oysters and turtle taken by these men, and 
their successors who followed the ssme business here after the 
purchase of Florida by the United States, were sold at the set- 
tlement and fort ?t St. Joseph. As late as 1840 the following 
advertisement appeared in the St. Joseph Times: "Oysters — 
Oysters — Oysters. Families supplied with St. Andrews Bay 
Oysters, in or out of the shell at all hours. Pickled oysters 



St. Andrews, Florida 49 

constantly on hand, and sent to any part of the country by ad- 
dressing a note to the subscribers. Byigton & Brother, Rail- 
road Cottage, Dec. 22nd, 1840." 

St. Andrews Bay oysters were widely known and highly 
esteemed. At that early day signs in the market at New Or- 
leans read: "St. Andrews Bay Oysters For Sale Here." After 
the w^ar, when the country had begun to recover therefrom, 
wagons came in the winter season from as far away as Colum- 
bus, Ga., and east central Alabama to St. Andrews Bay, where 
they loaded up with salt fish and with oysters in the shell, and 
took them back home where they were peddled out. We have 
seen as many as forty teams here at St. Andrews at one time, 
waiting to secure loads, while an equal number, or even more, 
were at Southport, and at Parker and East Bay points. Buena 
Vista point furnished many fine oysters, while the largest taken 
came from the Big Oyster Bar north of the present West Bay 
Mill location. From that point, some years ago, oysters were 
taken that measured from tip to tip of the shell, on the convex 
side, a trifle over 12 inches. They usually sold here at that 
date at ten cents a quart, solid meats, or $1 to $1.50 per 1,000 
in the shell. Many boat loads were taken from here to Pensa- 
cola. and that heavy drain on the beds, together with some se- 
vere storms that buried many of the beds under drifting sand, 
has made the present supply of oysters in the bay a negligible 
quantity. The enormous shell heaps to be found in this section 
c ttest the great numbers of these molluscs that were to be 
found here at an early date, and which furnished food for the 
people that then inhabited these shores. 

At various times our fishermen have made large hauls of 
mackerel and of mullet, these two varieties being the ones that 
are taken, in their season, in large numbers. Up to the time 
when the railways was built to the bay, these large catches had 
to' be dressed and salted, and sold as salt fish. This limited 
the amount of business that could be done, as salt fish could not 
compete with the fresh fish that, with modern refrigeration, 
could be sent a thousand miles away. But it was not until 1908 
that the railroad was completed to the bay, and shipments of 
fresh fish began to be sent out by rail. 

The history of the "Saint Andrews Bay Fisheries" will be 
found very fully set forth in Silas Stearns' article in the "Geo- 



50 St. Andrews, Florida 

graphical Review of the Fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico: West- 
ern Florida," pages 564 to 566, contained in the 1883 govern- 
ment report, but not published until 1887, containing also the 
census report of 1880 relative to the fisheries. This article 
from such a well known authority as Mr. Stearns, is well worth 
reading, and from this history we will make liberal quotations. 
Of the "History and Early Condition of the Fisheries," he says: 

"The fisheries of Washington county are twofold in 
their history. Both past and present, however, were, and 
are carried on in the waters of St. Andrews Bay, the cap- 
ital for the prosecution of the same being furnished by 
parties living in or near the city of the same name. The 
past fisheries, dating from the year 1850 to the year 1863, 
which was the year of the bombardment of Saint Andrews 
city, will be treated of first. 

"Between 1850 and 1860 Saint Andrews was a lively, 
active place, containing at least 1,200 or 1,500 people. 
There were sawmills in operation and shipping was car- 
ried on to an important extent. The city in summer was 
visited by many people from Alabama and Georgia, who, 
of course, circulated money in the place. There, as in 
nearly every seaport town, fish formed the chief article 
of diet. As the place grew more thrifty and continued to 
grow in size, the demand for fish increased in proportion. 
At this early stage of its history a large quantity of salt 
fish was sold to the planters living in the interior of Ala- 
bama and Georgia, and this trade was of no litttle import- 
ance to the fishermen. The fishing then, as now, was done 
entirely with the drag-seines, which were from 50 to 75 
fathoms in length, and from 6 to 12 feet deep, having a 
bag in the middle, at which point the seine attained its 
greatest depth In winter two or three bar- 
rels were considered a fair day's catch; in spring about 
twice that amount, and in fall as many as the boat could 
carry in one or two journeys — perhaps 25 or 30 barrels. 

"The greater part of these fish were salted; for this 
purpose such fish as Spanish mackerel, jurel, pompano,* 
trout, redfish, sheepshead, bluefish. and mullet were se- 
lected. The majority of other varieties were given away 

or fed to the hogs When dry salted, the fish 

were allowed to remain for two or three days in that con- 
dition, after which they were taken out and packed away 
nicely in barrels and half barrels with plenty of pickle. 
Each barrel would hold certainly 200 pounds, and the fish 
were guaranteed to remain sweet and good for at least 
one year. The barrels were, and are now, made and pro- 



St. Andrews, Florida 5 1 

vided by a cooper who lives near the bay, and combines 
this work with that of farming. 

"The principal market for these fish was in the inter- 
ior. Some of the fishermen preferred to carry the fish to 
market themselves, but the majority sold them at their own 
doors. Those who chose the former plan would start up 
country with their barrels of fish loaded on an ox-cart 
and stop at every town and plantation until all the fish 
were sold. This mode was much more profitable to the 
fisherman than the other, for, of course, if the buyers sent 
after the fish, they did not expect to pay is much for them 
as they would if they were delivered at their houses, and 
the value of the time spent in peddling fish was not con- 
sidered, for the summer months in that region were of but 
little practical use to the professional fisherman. When 
several wagons had preceded a later comer, it was fre- 
quently necessary to go as far as Columbus, Georgia, be- 
fore selling all the fish. The best inland customers were 
planters, who bought the fish to feed to their slaves, whose 
diet was half bacon and half fish." 

"After the fish caught by a crew were sold, the divis- 
ion of the proceeds was made. The seine and boat drew 
one share, the captain two, and each of the crew one. 
Some men from Alabama not accustomed to fishing, but 
owners of a fishing outfit, would often hire by the month 
a captain and crew to fish for them during the season. For 
such work there was no regular proportion paid, but the 
men who were hired usually managed to make more than 
they could have made had they been fishing on the ordin- 
ary plan. There were at least two crews of this kind here 
in the year 1879. Of the crews working on shares, there 
were only five in 1879, but when the war broke out there 
were many more. Some of these were not fishing for mar- 
ket, but in order to catch fish for their own consumption." 
Stearns says that it is impossible to accurately get at just 
how many fish were taken by our St. Andrews fishermen be- 
tween 1850 and 1860, but from careful investigation the 
amount of fish salted and sold during that time is given at 
21,000 barrels. Pompano v/ere more plentiful then than since, 
being one-eighth of the catch. The prices and amounts for the 
ten year trade are given as follows: Pompano, 2,625 barrels, 
sold at $10 per barrel, bringing in $26,250. Mullet and other 
beach fish sold for $8 per barrel, number of barrels 18,375, 
bringing $147,000. Of later day fishing Stearns says: 

"In the year 1863, as above stated, Saint Andrews 
city was bombarded and destroyed by the Federal gun- 



52 St. Andrews, Florida 

boats, as were also the fisheries and salt-works about the 
bay. This event, and the continued presence of the gun- 
boats, stopped all fishing in the bay until the close of the 
war. The fishermen still resident were without outfits; 
the greater part of them. had heard of or experienced bet- 
ter fields elsewhere, and had gone away. In a few years 
after this the poorer classes of the inland country began to 
call on those living at the bay for fish, for which they paid 
by giving in exchange sirup, corn, sweet potatoes, etc. The 
new class of fishermen were formed from the people who, 
since the war, had come there for the purpose of farming. 
They found but a scanty living and were only too glad to 
be thus called on by those living in the interior of the coun- 
try for fish. Those who were able to buy seines, did so im- 
mediately, and every spring and fall they spent two or 
three months in fishing, the profits of which exceeded those 
realized from farming for the remaining nine months of 
the year. 

"There are now some twenty-five or thirty families 
near the bay, out of which number about thirty-five men 
and boys fish during the season for a livelihood. None fish 
throughout the year. There is a Dane, a German, an 
Irishman, a Scotchman, a Spaniard, and there are also 
three Englishmen ; the rest of them are Americans and 
negroes. As a class, these fishermen are a hardy set. So- 
cially they are very hospitable in their manner to a 
stranger, always entertaining him as well as their mode of 
living will permit. The astonishing feature is that men 
who have traveled, and have, therefore, seen something of 
the world, should settle down to lead such a lazy, shift- 
less sort of life. Their homes, often containing but two 
rooms, are the regular 'Hoosier' log cabins; in these live 
the fishermen, their wives, and their children. Life in one 
of these houses must be truly miserable. The women, all 
of whom are natives and of the most ignorant class, are as 
intellectually inferior as they are superior energetically to 
the men. Considering how few advantages these women 
have, their conduct of their household afi'airs reflects great 
credit upon them. The children seem to be smart and in- 
telligent until they reach maturity, at which stage they 
either fall into the careless habits of their fahers, or, if 
girls, take on themselves the drudgeries of a mother and 
wife. Near the bay there is no school, but those who can 
afford to do so send their children to the county school at 
Marianna; few being able to do this, the majority grow up 
in painful ignorance. The same is the case for the most 
part with their religious instruction, as there are no regu- 
lar services held near the bay and none of the people there 
profess any religion." 



St. Andrews, Florida 53 

This is the rather disheartening picture of those engaged 
in the fishing industry here from its beginning until about 1860. 
Then came the war and drove away even the few people who 
were obtaining a scanty living from fishing, as above described. 
And they did not return. Some time after the war the demand 
for fish from the interior having again become pronounced, 
the business here drew fishermen from other points, as well as 
induced residents to engage in this work, and by 1873 there 
were more fish and oysters being taken from the bay, annually, 
than ever before. This business gradually increased until now 
it is the largest business on the bay, and constantly increasing, 

It must be understood that Stearns wrote only of the fishing 
industry and fishermen. Those who had built summer homes 
and were here during the summer season, enjoying social privi- 
leges that they did at their inland homes, with schooling for a 
time at least in the academy, and a visit now and then from 
preachers, were of the more wealthy class that could afitord 
such a summer home by the sea, and brought to it their culture 
and refinement. 

One of the early preachers in this section of Florida was 
Peter W. Gautier, Sr., father of the editor of the St. Joseph 
Times, and who, at one time, must have had a residence here 
on the bay, as a memorial was passed by the territorial legisla- 
ture on February 5th, 1838, asking that the government appro- 
priate $5,000 "for the opening and putting in repair the road 
laid out by James Watson and others from a point near the 
house of Peter W. Gautier, senior, on St. Andrews Bay, to its 
intersection with the Compass road, thence with that road to 
Dry Creek, near McQuaigges mill, thence to the nearest and 
best route to Webbville in the county of Jackson." 

Dr. Keyes also, in his reminisences, has the following re- 
ference to the visit of a clergyman here : 

"In 1848 I found myself at th6 hospitable White 
House and there was there as a guest, the Rev. Mr. Mercer, 
a Baptist minister from Georgia. He had been a great 
sufTerer from asthma. I never met a man more enthusias- 
tic upon any subject than he was upon the curative qual- 
ities of St. Andrews' air. He could breathe and I can tes- 
tify there was no lack of breath, for a more incessant talk- 
er I never met." 



54 St. Andrews, Florida 

But there were no churches, and no school houses wherein 
meetings could be held in those early days, and services, when 
they were held, were in private houses. 

The numerous population, 1,200 to 1,500, mentioned by 
Stearns as living here before the war, included those employed 
at Watson's mill, on Watson's Bayou, with their families. In 
fact, St. Andrews being the only settlement on the bay, all of 
those living near what is now St. Andrews city, were included 
in the population. The lumber cut at this mill was shipped out 
by schooners, coastwise and to Cuba. The property changed 
hands many times. It is but indirectly connected with our his- 
tory of St. Andrews, therefore only a passing mention of it and 
other mills and settlements will be made. 

During the Second Seminole War, from 1834 to 1842, this 
section was subject to more or less trouble from wandering 
bands of Indians. We have no record of any damage by them 
right here in St. Andrews, but local history tells of depredations 
by them on all sides of this locality. 

In 1840 a Mrs. Jones, living north of the old Gainer home 
at Econfina, was killed by a band of Indians. William Augustus 
Gainer, in his reminisences, tells of this in the following words: 

"When my father and family came to the Econfina 
country they were accompanied by others. Among these 
were Elijah Robbins, family and slaves, from Virginia; 
Josiah Jones and son, who was married ; and Rev. Soliden. 
In 1840, Jones' wife, who was a Robbins, was killed by the 
Indians. Squire Robbins lived right to the rear of my 
house. Mrs. Jones was killed about two miles above there. 
Beathem, with a couple of friendly Indians and Steve Rich- 
ards, was sent out to gather in the wandering Indians pre- 
paratory to their removal to the Indian Territory. Rich- 
ards, with some trusty Indians, secured a small number of 
Coacoochee's band and took them to Blountstown. When 
passing Major Jones' home he gave them dinner. Some 
eight or ten days after this some Indians, supposed to have 
been the party that Richards took to Blountstown, return- 
ed and killed Mrs, Jones. She was buried half a mile 
northwest of where I live." 

In the February 2nd, 1839 issue, of the St. Joseph Times, 
appeared the following item relative to a large number of re- 
fugee Indians on East Bay : 

"Indians. — About two hundred refugee Indians are 



St. Andrews, Florida 55 

said to be concealed in the hammocks on the Eastern arm 
of St. Andrews Bay, between thirty and forty miles north 
of this place. A detachment of U. S. troops are in pursuit 
of them. As yet they have committed no depredations and 
excite but little alarm in the neighborhood." 

In its issue of January 29th, 1840, it stated that an express 
had just arrived from lola with a letter from Mr. J. L. Small- 
wood, merchant of that place, stating that on Monday night the 
family of Mr. Harlen, about six miles above lola, were all mur- 
dered, and the premises burned, by a party of Indians supposed 
to be about twenty in number. The citizens of lola were with- 
out arms or ammunition and they called for assistance. The 
Indians would either remain in the Apalachicola swamps or 
make for the eastern arm of St, Andrews Bay, A company 
hence, under command of Col, Fitzpatrick, had gone in pursuit 
of them. 

The last Indian to be killed in this section was old Chief 
Joe, an account of which is given in Doctor Keyes' reminisences. 
He says: 

"Not long before my visit to the bay, in 1848, old 
Chief Joe had been killed, and he (Rev. Mercer) gave me 
a full account of it. Joe was a Seminole chief who lived at 
the head of the sound on the road leading from St. Jo- 
seph Bay and Apalachicola, to St. Andrews. A man by 
the name of King had been to Apalachicola and was re- 
turning to St. Andrews, having his gun upon his shoulder 
rnd a roll of calico upon his back. King passed old Joe 
rnd his son, a boy about sixteen yesrs of age and spoke to 
ihem as he passed. It is supposed that Joe wanted that 
roll of calico for when King was a short distance from him 
he fired at him and the ball struck the roll of cloth and 
King fell. King recovered his footing, turned upon Joe 
rnd fired at but missed him. Each drew their knives and 
King struck Joe on the head with his; Joe grappled him; 
King threw him to the ground but Joe got on top ; King 
rose v/ith him and threw h'm again. About this time old 
Joe's son ran up and Joe said 'thwalka;' the boy turned 
and ran. King found Joe's strength was failing, so disen- 
gaged himself and took to his heels. Some days after. King 
pnd some of his companions returned to the scene of con- 
flict and found Joe but a few paces from where King had 
left him dead. King's knife had penetrated to Joe's brain, 
A ye^r later the skeleton of Chief Joe was gathered and 
taken to Ireland, and now stands in a glass case in the mu- 
seum of the University at Dublin, marked. 'Seminole In- 
dian Chief Joe, Presented by Mr, Edmond Blood,' " 



56 St. Andrews, Florida 

There does not appear to be much in evidence as to this 
section having been inhabited by a very large number of In- 
dians known to white men, since they discovered these shores. 
There are no burial grounds of importance, and the burials ap- 
pear to have been scattering and what is termed "intrusive," in 
mounds antedating the arrival of those Indians which were 
found here by the first white explorers. Now and then, in cut- 
ting into mounds, and in excavating on the bluffs, remains of 
these later day Indians are found. They do not differ in any 
way from the skeletons of Indians of today. 

The first post-office in St. Andrews was located between 
Old Town and the Panama City line. The post office records 
at Washington show that the first postmaster was James B. B. 
Clarke, and his appointment is elated January 15th, 1857. The 
office was probably kept at the house of this Clarke, which was 
at the point stated above. He was succeeded by A. B. Pearson, 
who was appointed postmaster January 14th, 1859. Changes 
were rapid in postmasters that year, as on June 21st, T. E. 
Clarke, the son of the first postmaster was appointed, and on 
November 9th, 1859, Wm. T. Porter was appointed. What was 
done for a postoffice during the Civil War is not known, but 
as this place was often raided, there was probably no settled 
office here. On May 3rd, 1866, Wm. E. Forslew was appointed 
postmaster. There is no record available to show how long ho 
held the office, or who followed him. 

There was little but the monotony of a fishing village dur- 
ing the fall, winter and spring here in St. Andrews between 
1850 and 1861. The summer residents made that time a merry 
one, but it was only a brief season. 

The oncoming of the war attracted but little attention here 
among the fishermen. They were not politicians, too poor to 
own slaves, and but little interested in the affairs of the nation. 
There was a little commerce carried on in the matter of ship- 
ments of lumber from the mills which were in operation ; a 
small amount of cotton was shipped from the landing on Cedar 
Creek and from Grassy Point, together with now and then some 
cattle destined for Cuba, The port had a customs officer, but 
there was little for him to do. The planters in the Econfina set- 
tlement raised many cattle, some of which were exported, 
while the mill on Watson's Bayou, and one on what was then 
called Laughton's Bayou, exported much of their cut. The mill 



St. Andrews, Florida 57 

on Laughton's Bayou was put up in 1856 by P. M. Callaway and 
others, of Eufaula, Ala. An old steamboat was purchased at 
Apalachicola, brought to the site chosen for the mill, the en- 
gine and boilers taken out and used for power, while the boat 
was utilized as a lodging place for the labor employed. The 
storm of 1858 destroyed much of this mill, houses and the boat, 
and during the war the boilers were cut up and used for kettles 
in the manufacure of salt. Soon after the war. Governor Mil- 
ton, of Marianna, erected another mill on this bayou. Other 
mills were built at an early day on streams leading into North 
Bay, but the lumber they manufactured was used almost en- 
tirely in the interior. 

St. Andrews Bay, with its many secluded deep water 
bayous, afforded a good base for a profitable business in block- 
ade running, shipping out of cotton and securing needed sup- 
plies for the Confederacy on return trips of the runners. There 
was also, early in the war, an extensive business carried on in 
the manufacture of salt at various points on the bay, and this 
made St. Andrews Bay far more conspicuous than it was in 
peace times. 

Just when the Federal ships were first placed at the en- 
trance to the harbor to blockade it, is difficult to say, but it 
v/as very early in the war, and probably some time in the latter 
part of 1861. Besides blockade duty they were frequently en- 
gaged in the destruction of the salt works about the bay, which 
had, at that time, become numerous and very valuable. It has 
been stated by those who were here at the time, that during 
the height of the salt-making activity here on the bay, approx- 
imately four thousand wagons were engaged in hauling the 
product to the interior. The headquarters of the blockaders 
was in the bay back of Hurricane Island. The island was used 
as a land base, and a wharf was erected on the peninsula side 
south of Davis Point. 

However there was not a continuous blockade maintained 
at the entrance of this bay. Federal vessels employed in this 
part of the Gulf, coasting between Cedar Keys and Pensacola, 
watched for blockade runners, and at times entered the bay 
and destroyed salt-works. 

The making of salt was a very necessary business, and 
the law of Florida granted exemption from conscription and 



58 St. Andrews, Florida 

military serice to those engaged in this work. This brought a 
large number here who were anxious to escape from service in 
the Confederate Armies. 

This became burdensome in more ways than one. It took 
a large amount of supplies to feed and maintain these salt-mak- 
ers, and those engaged in the transportation of it, all of which 
was a drain upon the food supply of the back country. 

Davis in his work on "The Civil War," in Florida, says: 
"Citizens of Florida and citizens of neighboring states 
established themselves with kettles on the sea-coast be- 
cause salt-makers were exempted. Governor Milton stat- 
ed 'Many able-bodied men from adjoining and this state 
have repaired to the Florida sea-coast, and under pretense 
of making salt, have been holding intercourse with the en- 
emy; others have been lazy loungers. I know ten men as- 
sociated in salt-making on the coast for the past six weeks. 
They have not made a bushel.' " 

Although many thousand were engaged in making salt 
along the seculded waters of the Gulf shore, salt kept increas- 
ing in price, and was selling early in the war at $1 per pound 
in parts of the state. Alabama depended largely on the salt 
made here. A resolution was passed in the legislature in De- 
cember, 1862, extending the privilege of making salt on the 
coasts of Florida to citizens of other states. In April, 1862, 
Governor Shorter, of Alabama, requested of Governor Milton 
that the State of Alabama might be allowed to manufacture 
salt in Florida, as that state had insufficient coast line to furn- 
ish a supply for its citizens. 

These salt-makers were organized into companies by the 
state, and furnished with arms and ammunition. Such was the 
demand for this necessity that many profiteered in salt, and a 
salt corner at one time threatened the supply of the country. A 
state tax of one-tenth of the output was proposed with a view 
to ending such attempts to corner the salt market. 

The north and west shores of West Bay offered exceeding- 
ly good locations for carrying on this work ; the flats on the 
north shore being particularly well fitted for this purpose. 
Even to this day, portions of the brick work of the furnaces may 
be found along this shore. This section was easily accessible 
from the north; secluded from the sea-coast; plenty of fuel ob- 
tainable in the adjacent woods; and could be evacuated quickly 
in case of attack. 



St. Andrews, Florida 59 

But all portions of the bay had salt works and, as Lieuten- 
ant Hart, of the Albatross said, as he approached the entrance 
to the bay at night, "The sky was lit up to east and west away 
inland for a long distance," this glare in the heavens being the 
reflected light from the fires of countless salt-works along the 
shores of the bay. 

We have no authentic record of the various boats that 
were employed in the blockade of this bay, but in the official 
reports of work done here by them, we find the names of the 
following, with the years that they were reported as in service 
here: In 1862, the bark Pursuit, steamer Albatross, schooner 
Wanderer, and brig Bohio. In 1863 and later, the bark Rest- 
less, sidewheel steamer Bloomer, bark Roebuck, and sloop Caro- 
line. 

One of the early activities of the blockading fleet was the 
capture of the steamer Florida, that had been engaged in taking 
cotton out of this bay, probably to the Bermudas, and bringing 
in supplies. The reports of this capture, as well as reports of 
other activities that will be given in this narrative, are taken 
from the "Naval War Records," so far as reference is had to the 
movement of the men and boats from the blackading fleet, 
and from the "Official Records of The Rebellion" of reports 
made by the Confederate forces. 

The following are the official reports of this transaction: 
"Acting Volunteer Lieutenant David Cate, command- 
ing the United States bark Pursuit, having received in- 
formation that the rebel steamer 'Florida' which had suc- 
ceeded in getting into St. Andrews was lying some twenty 
miles above that town, determined to make an attempt to 
cut her out, a volunteer expedition was organized, and left 
the vessel on the 4th of April, and on the night of the 6th, 
reached and surprised the 'Florida.' 

"The crew were overcome with slight resistance, and 
the vessel — a valuable side-wheel steamer of 500 tons — 
with a cargo of over 200 bales of cotton, was brought 
safely out." 



"Flag officer McKean transmits report of the capture 
of the Confederate steamer 'Florida.' 

"United States Flag-Ship Niagra, 

"Key West, April 24, 1862. 
"Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy 
of the report made by Acting Master Elnathan Lewis, who 



60 St. Andrews, Florida 

commanded the boat expedition from the Pursuit, which 
resulted in the capture of the Confederate steamer Florida, 
and which I did not receive in time to forward by the Con- 
necticut- 

"I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"WM. W. McKEAN, 

"Flag-officer Commanding Eastern Gulf Squadron. 
"Hon. Gideon Welles, 

"Secty. of the Navy, Washington, D. C." 

"Steamer Florida Prize to U. S. Bark Pursuit: 

"St. Josephs Bay, April 10, 1862. 

"Sir: I have to report that, in obedience to your order 
of the 4th instant, I proceeded with the boats under my 
command to St. Andrews Bay, to endeavor to capture any 
vessel or vessels that might be found loading or lying in 
that vicinity. We arrived at the mouth of the pass and 
landed at 12:30 a. m. and camped on the beach. Having 
been informed that a sloop loaded with, cotton, bound to 
Havana, wrs lying 5 miles up Crooked Island sound, I 
despatched the launch with twelve men, in charge of Sail- 
ingmaster John C. Hamlin, with orders to capture her, if 
possible. Mr. Hamlin proceeded up the sound and took 
possession of sloop, which proved to be the sloop Lafay- 
ette, of Pensacola which ran the blockade by East Pass, 
Pensacola, March 1, rnd had been lying there since, hav- 
ing abandoned his voyage. 

"Found the captain on board, who expressed strong 
Union sentiments. Got sloop under way, brought her to 
. the pass and anchored her. We found that Captain Har- 
rison of this sloop was acquainted with the bay. and volun- 
teered his services to pilot us to the steamer, Florida, then 
loading at head of North bay. mouth of Bear creek. At 1 
p. m. started sloop, with boats in tow: at 4 p. m. passed 
St. Andrews town and proceeded up North bay until 9 p. 
m., when the wind having died av/ay, we anchored the 
sloop, and one boat leaving five men in charge under the 
command of James H. Barry, master's mate. We then 
proceeded cautiously with launch, first cutter, and twenty- 
five men, Captain Harrison acting as pilot. 

"At 2 a. m. we succeeded in passing the picket guard 
without any rlarm being given; at 3 a. m. discerned the 
lights of the ste mer in the distance. We then lay on our 
oars and drifted up the tide until we came within hail, 
when we were hailed by the watch, who gave the alarm, 
we then boarded her in both boats on both sides. We met 
with but little resistance, they being taken completely by 
surprise. On gaining the deck of the steamer, I received a 



St. Andrews, Florida ( 

pistol shot in the forehead. We then took charge of the 
steamer, putting the crew under guard. She proved to be 
the steamship Florida, loading with cotton for the purpose 
of running the blockade. Found the boilers empty, and 
immediately pumped them up, and proceeded to get the 
steamer in working order. Finding the engineers to be 
Union men, we prevailed on them to assist in getting the 
steamer down. 

"At 11 a. m. got under M^ay and steamed slowly down 
the bay. After proceeding about five miles we grounded 
on an oyster bank, in mid-ch.^nnel ; used every effort to get 
her off without success; lay there all night. At 9 a. m., 
tide veering, succeeded in getting her afloat, but had 
scarcely gone a mile when we grounded on another bar. 
Findmg that I could not get her afloat, and provisions get- 
ting scarce. I held a consultation with the officers and crew, 
and concluded to set those on shore v/ho did not wish to 
take the oath of allegiance to the United States; which we 
did sending nine men and the chief engineer. 

"I then deemed it advisable to lighten the ship, which 
I did by throwing overboard thirty bales of cotton, consid- 
ering the ship in a critical condition. I offered to the pilot, 
Mr. H. Harrison; S muel Dayton, chief mate; and Robert 
Davidson first engineer, $500 each; likewise to Henry 
Jones, second engineer, $250; also to each of the greasers, 
$50, to induce them to make every effort to get the boat to 
sea. Next morning, at 9 o'clock, got the steamer afloat 
and proceeded down the bay. On arriving abreast of St. 
Andrews town, we found it impossible to cross the bay, 
owing to the heavy gale then blov.-ing from the southwest; 
c:me to an anchor. 

"Finding provisions getting scarce, and having pre- 
viously been informed by the pilot that the two families 
living th.ere were Unionists, I was induced to send the sloop 
Lafayette, in charge of James H, Barry, with five men and 
the pilot, with a flag of truce, to try and procure some. 
Seeing a flag of truce on shore, Mr. Barry and the pilot 
landed rnd were met by a woman who told them that they 
could get provisions at another place. As they were go-- 
ing to the boat, an alarm was given that a body of armed 
men, to the number of forty or fifty, were running toward 
them from the woods. They jumped into the boat and 
mr^de for the sloop, but had scarcely got twenty yards from 
the shore when they were fired at by the rebels. They suc- 
ceeded in getting on board the sloop; while doing which, 
however mother volley was fired instantly killing Samuel 
Lawrence badly wounding James Finney and also wound- 
ing James H. Barry and the pilot. They returned the fire 



62 St. Andrews, Florida 

and succeeded in driving them back; got sloop under way 
and reached the steamer. We then fired six shells into 
the town from our small rifled 12-pounder, which we had 
taken from our boat and mounted on the steamer. The 
gale increaing, let go the other anchor, and kept the ship 
under steam all night. At 9 a. m. Jacob F. F. Wendt acci- 
dently shot himself in the groin. At 1 p. m. next day, wind 
abating, got under way and proceeded to East Pass. On 
reaching the pass and finding the sea running very high on 
the bar, rendering it impossible to cross without great risk, 
came to anchor. At 8 the next morning got under way; 
crossed the bar and proceeded to St. Joseph's bay at 11 
a. m. 

"In conclusion I have to express my entire satisfac- 
tion with the conduct of the officers and men whom it was 
my good fortune to command. And furthermore, I wish to 
recommend to your notice the gallant conduct of Captain 
Harrison, our pilot, in bravely assisting to defend our men 
in the sloop against the tremendous odds opposed to them. 
I wish also to express my heartfelt thanks to Sailingmaster 
John C. Hamlin, and Master's Mate James H. Barry for 
their conduct during the expedition. 

"I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"ELNATHAN LEWIS, 
"Acting Master and Executive Officers. 
"Volunteer Lieut. Gate, United States Bark Pursuit." 



The Confederate report relative to this affair is found in 
the two letters following; one being from the Colonel com- 
manding the Confederate troops in this section to Capt. R. S. 
Smith, and the other Captain Smith's report of the part taken 
by himself and men in the affray: 



"Hdqrs. Prov. Forces Dept. E. and M. Fla. 

"Tallahassee, Fla., April 7, 1862. 
"Capt. R. S. Smith, Comdg. Marianna Dragoons, 
"Marianna, Florida. 

"Captain : You will immediately proceed in the di- 
rection of Saint Andrews Bay with your troops rnd if pos- 
sible, recapture the steamer Florida, prevent all unneces- 
sary communication with the enemy, and arrest any per- 
son which you may have found grounds to suspect of trea- 
son. 

"Respectfully yours, 

"W. S. DILWORTH, 
"Colonel, Commanding District." 



St. Andrews, Florida 63 

April 7th, 1862 — Affair at Saint Andrews Bay, Florida. 
Report of Capt. R. S. Smith, Marianna Dragoons. 



"Blue Spring Camp, April 16th, 1862. 
"Brig. Gen. Joseph Finegan, 

"Commanding Department. 

"Sir: In compliance with a telegraphic order (a copy 
of which is herewith enclosed) from Colonel Dilworth, then 
commanding, and received at my camp, six miles east of 
Marianna, at twelve o'clock, on the 7th instant, I started at 
three p. m. of the same day with my command, and arrived 
at three p. m. the next day at Saint Andrews Bay, having 
been in the saddle twenty-four hours, with only a rest of 
two hours to feed our horses. I found that the enemy had 
succeeded in getting the steamer Florida from her anchor- 
age up North Bay, and was then opposite the town of Saint 
Andrews. When about three miles from the town we 
heard a gun from the steamer, and riding then at half 
speed, I met one of my advance guard just before reaching 
the town, who informed me that the enemy were landing 
from a small sloop about a mile from us. I then dismount- 
ed my command and advanced rapidly through the woods, 
hoping to capture them. But the enemy saw us when two 
hundred yards off, and took to their boats. I then caused 
my command to open fire upon them. They were out of 
gunshot reach, but a portion of my command, who were 
armed with Maynard rifles, killed or disabled four or five 
of the seven. Having only five cartridges to the rifle, our 
ammunition was soon exhausted. Had I had sufficient cart- 
ridges, I am sure that I could have taken the sloop, and 
probably have re-taken the steamer, or at least burned her. 
The enemy fired on us with a long range gun, carrying 
round balls, which passed over our heads at a distance of 
half a mile. They also sent a few shell after us, but no one 
hurt on our side. The steamer then left the bay, and, after 
remaining some days, I returned with my command to 
camp. 

"Yours obediently, 

"R. S. SMITH, 
"Capt. Commanding Marianna Dragoons." 



With Apalachicola and Pensacola in the hands of the Fed- 
erals early in 1862, St. Andrews Bay offered the best remaining 
point for possible blockade running, then and later, on this part 
of the Gulf Coast. Of this work Davis, in his "Civil War and 
Reconstruction in Florida," quoting from reports from a Florida 



64 St. Andrews, Florida 

"Loyalist," published in the New York Herald in September, 
1862, says: 

"St. Andrew's Bay and St. George's Sound, (on which 
was Apalachicola Bay) on the west coast, and Mosquito 
Inlet on the east were the most important points." 

Governor Milton was opposed to blockade-running, claim- 
ing that it was detrimental to the cause of the Confederacy. 
There was much profiteering in connection with it, and to many 
who were engaged in this traffic the cause of the Confederacy 
was a secondary consideration. Governor Milton, in writing 
upon the subject on June 25th, 1862, said: 

"Citizens charged exorbitant prices for return car- 
goes. I made enquiry and found a co-partnership existed, 
formed by merchants in New Orleans, Havana, and New 
York, for blockade trade, whereby it is exchanged for cot- 
ton from Southern ports. This traffic is not unknown to 
those in command of the blockading fleet. By such base 
means not only is cotton obtained in New York and other 
Northern cities, but information prejudicial to our best in- 
terests is obtained, our slaves enticed away, and ignorant 
citizens corrupted by southern partners — men of north- 
em birth or vile Jews professing to supply the people of 
the South with salt, coffee, etc." 

Davis further says that "Scant record is left of blockade- 
running on the Florida coast." From May, 1861, to May, 1865, 
it is stated in the report of the Secretary of the Navy, that the 
Federal fleet captured 160 craft, either near the Florida coast, 
or in the harbors, but those reported captured here in St. An- 
drews Bay, or near by, were few in number, this being caused 
either by the laxity of the fleet, the letting of these cargoes slip 
out as suggested by Governor Milton, or the irregularity of the 
blockade. The report of those captured on the Florida coast 
shows that most of the vessels were schooners and sloops, these 
two classes aggregating 137 out of the 160 captured. Such ves- 
sels could navigate in and out the unmarked shallow channels 
into this and other bays where the work was being carried on, 
with less possibility of capture than could larger vessels. 

But the making of salt for the people and the Confederate 
government overshadowed all other activities on St. Andrews 
Bay from the outbreak of the war in 1861 until its close in 
1865. So important was this business that three companies of 



St. Andrews, Florida 65 

Confederates were kept in this section to protect the salt-mak- 
ers, many of which were also organized into companies and 
supplied with arms, as has been stated. In the fall of 1862 
the demand for Confederate troops was so urgent elsewhere, 
that it was proposed by some of the military leaders to take the 
three companies away from this section. This brought out a 
strong appeal from Governor Milton to have them retained in 
this section, in which he was joined by the governor of Ala- 
bama. The following correspondence throws additional light 
on this subject: 



"Executive Department, 

"Tallahassee, November 5th, 1862. 
"Brig. Gen. John Forney : 

"Sir: I introduce to your acquaintance Dr. John Er- 
win, first lieutenant of a company in your department com- 
manded by Capt. Robinson. There are two cavalry com- 
panies, one commanded by Captain Thigpen, the other by 
Captain Blocker, and the infantry commanded by W. J. 
Robinson. Dr. Erwin will give you all necessary informa- 
tion relative to them. Gen. Finegan is making an effort to 
have the companies transferred to this department, in 
which event a very important portion of your department 
would be left entirely unprotected, and I hope you will co- 
operate with me in opposing the transfer, and issue the 
necessary orders to secure subsistence for the companies 
and for their active performance of duties. 
"Respectfully, 

"JOHN MILTON, 

"Governor of Florida." 



This section of Florida was in Gen. Forney's district, whose 
headquarters were at Mobile. Gen, Finegan was in command 
of what was designated the East and Middle District of Florida, 
with headquarters at Tallahassee. On the west he had charge 
of the protection of the Apalachicola river. General Forney 
took the subject up with General Beauregard, at Charleston, 
in the following letter: 



"Hdqrs. District Gulf, 

"Mobile, Nov. 12th, 1962. 
"General G. T. Beauregard: 

"General: I enclose you letters of the Governors of 
Alabama and Florida, expressing their desire that the 



66 St. Andrews, Florida 

three companies of Florida troops may be retained west 
of the Apalachicola. Your dispatch of November 11th, 
answered by telegraph today, styles them cavalry. Two 
of the companies only are of cavalry. They are stationed 
respectively on the Apalachicola, near Dead Lake, and on 
St. Andrews Bay, at the head of the Northern Arm. The 
infantry company is near the town of Saint Andrews. 
These troops are within my district, and playing an im- 
portant part in guarding the coast and preventing the run- 
ning off of negroes. I cannot replace them, and request 
that they be continued in their present stations. 

"General Finegan has exercised command over them 
heretofore and I wish him to continue to do so, for I have 
no one in that region of country to whom to intrust such a 
command. 

"I will direct Major Johnston, quartermaster at Eu- 
faula, Ala., to furnish supplies under General Finegan's 
orders, if so desired. I will also send General Finegan 
copy of this letter. 

"I am, general, very respectfully, 

your obedient servant, 

"JOHN H. FORNEY, 

"Major-General Commanding." 



From this letter of General Forney it would appear that 
General Beauregard had taken up the matter of making the 
transfer, and consequent removal from this section, of these 
companies which were guarding the salt-makers and attend- 
ing to other duties. The Governor of Alabama joined in the 
appeal to have these companies left here in the following letter: 



"Executive Department, 
"Montgomery, Ala., November 10, 1862. 
"The suggestion of Governor Milton is heartily ap- 
proved, and I hope General Forney will accept and provide 
for the troops named. Maj. L. F. Johnston, quartermaster, 
C. S. Army, at Eufaula, Ala., can furnish needful supplies 
if ordered. 

"JNO. GILL SHORTER. 

"Governor of Alabama." 



The raids made on the salt-makers were so damaging to 
the people of Alabama, Georgia and West Florida, that soon 
after this correspondence the governors of Georgia, Alabama 
and Florida united in an appeal to President Davis, at Rich- 



St. Andrews, Florida 67 

mond, that he "order the formation of a new military depart- 
ment," to be composed of the six southeastern counties in Ala- 
bama ; the fourteen counties in southwestern Georgia ; and the 
following ten in West Florida: Leon, Gadsden, Wakulla, Jef- 
ferson, Madison, Liberty, Washington, Jackson, Calhoun and 
Franklin. With Apalachicola and St. Joseph Bay in the hands 
of the Federals, all this section above referred to was mainly 
dependent upon St. Andrews Bay for what little maritime 
trade could be carried on, and for their salt supply as well. 

The result of this appeal was that General Howell Cobb 
had this territory added to his district. Soon after he visited 
this section on an inspection tour, and upon his return to head- 
quarters at Quincy, Fla., submitted a report to General Beau- 
regard, from which report we take the following: 

"During my absence I visited that portion of the dis- 
trict lying between the Apalachicola and Choctawhatchee 
Rivers. Between the populated portion of that section and 
the coast and bays is an almost desert country of nearly 
fifty miles in extent. There is no reason to apprehend an 
invasion or raid of the enemy in that quarter beyond the 
salt-works on Saint Andrew's Bay. This interest has be- 
come an extensive and important one. It has already at- 
tracted the attention of the enemy, and two efforts have 
recently been made by them to break up these works. I 
found the few troops there stationed too far from the coast 
to render timely aid. I changed them to more convenient 
posts, and have taken steps to concentrate the operation in 
the salt-works within narrower limits. These steps, in 
connection with the action of the Florida legislature au- 
thorizing the organization of the salt workers for their 
own defense, will, I hope, enable me in the future to pre- 
vent any serious mterruption in these works." 

In connection with this activity on the part of the govern- 
ors of Alabama, Georgia and Florida, with a view to protecting 
the salt-makers, the report of operations by the Federals, late 
in 1862, will be appropriate. The report of Lieutenant Com- 
mander Hart is, possibly, the best and most complete descrip- 
tion of the destruction of the salt-works that has been written. 
It is more than the usual brief report made by commanding of- 
ficers. Following are the official Federal reports covering the 
operations against the salt-works: 



68 St. Andrews, Florida 

Destruction of Salt-Works on St. Andrews Bay 
and on Coast of Texas 

''Flagship Hartford, 
"New Orleans, Dec. 17, 1862. 
"Sir: I have the honor herewith to enclose a report 
from Lieutenant Commander Hart, also of Acting Master 
G. W. Brown, of the destruction of the salt-works near St. 
Andrews Bay. I also enclose a report from Acting Master 
Commanding Dillingham, of salt-works destroyed on the 
Texas coast. 

"Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"D. G. FARRAGUT, 

"Rear Admiral. 

"Hon. Gideon Welles, 

"Sec'ty of Navy." 



Report of Lieutenant Commander J. E. Hart, 

Commanding United States Steamer Albatross. 

"United States Steamer Albatross, 

"At Sea, December 9, 1862. 

"Sir: On the 14th of November, I proceeded to sea, 
in obedience to your orders of the 5th, taking in tow the 
United States brig Bohio, Acting Master George W. Brown 
commanding; that vessel being placed under my command 
by Commodore Henry H. Bell, to assist me in destroying 
the salt-works on the coast, between Pensacola and St. An- 
drews Bay, Florida. Along this part of the coast there 
were but few salt-works to be found until we reached a 
place called Phillip's inlet, (not laid down on the chart) 
this was the only spot that had the appearance of doing 
any business in the salt line ; but the surf was so heavy that 
our boats could not land without wetting the arms and 
ammunition of the crews, I deemed it produent to wait for 
a smooth time, so that I could effectually destroy all their 
works. 

"Carefully noticing and counting all their furnaces 
as I went, I continued on my course until I reached St. An- 
drews Bay, off the entrance of which I anchored. A boat 
from the United States schooner Wanderer c.?;me off to us; 
and on the following day (16th November) the wind hav- 
ing veered round to the southward and eastward, bringing 
in a heavy swell, I again took the Bohio in tow, ran in and 
anchored under shelter of Hurricane island. During the 
afternoon I took two • rmed boats to reconnoitre, and pull- 
ed into an arm of St. Andrew's bay that extends due West 
and is only separated from the sea for fifteen or sixteen 
miles by a narrow strip of land, in m?ny places less tliun a 



St. Andrews, Florida 69 

quarter of a mile wide. I wanted to see if it was quite 
possible for me to get with an armed force to the rear of 
the salt-works at Phillip's inlet, and destroy them in that 
way. 

"I found I could not get at them without a march of 
over six miles through the sand, and that my best way was, 
when the sea was smooth, to land in our boats. By tak- 
ing this little trip, however, I chanced to see and learn the 
extent of the salt manufactories along the shores of the 
bays or bayous and creeks of St. Andrew's bay. It quite 
surprised me, and I felt sure if I did all that I could to 
destroy them I would not exceed your orders, which were 
to run up the coast and destroy the salt-works between 
this place (Pensacola) and St. Andrews bay. I saw the 
smoke of a very large number, and when I returned on 
board that night the sky was lit up, both to the eastward 
and westward, away inland for a long distance. I after- 
ward learned that they, not having been molested here, 
had collected in great numbers. ..... 

**0n the 17th the Wanderer in attempting to work up 
the bay, got aground ; and I went to her assistance with 
the steamer, and concluded to follow her up the bay to the 
town of St. Andrew's. With the exception of three men 
and two women the place was deserted. There were boats 
hauled upon the beach, and under sheds that were ser- 
viceable, and which I set fire to and otherwise destroyed, 
at the suggestion of Acting Master Turner, of the Wan- 
derer, who thought they might be put to improper use, and 
if manned and armed could give great annoyance, in en- 
deavoring to capture the boats of the schooner, carrying 
salt across the bay, or running the blockade. Within a 
few miles of the town I destroyed several salt pans, with 
their furnaces, pumps, tubs, and gutters, etc.; two or 
three of these pans were made of the coast survey harbor 
buoys cut in two; esch half would hold over one hundred 
and fifty gallons of sea water. . . . . , 

"We found ourselves, while at anchor off the town, 
constantly watched by a company of cavalry, numbering, 
as ne?r as we could learn, about ninety men; they took 
good care, however, to keep out of harm's way. For a 
whole week we sent out armed boats to reconnoitre in all 
directions and to destroy all boats, salt pans, etc., in the 
neighborhood. On the morning of the 24th of November, 
at 4 a. m.. I started off with an expedition under my com- 
mand in the direction of North Bay. The Bohio furnished 
two boats and thirty men, one of the boats having a how- 
itzer; and the Albatross armed and equipped three boats 
with thirty men, besides a working gang of coal-heavers 



70 St. Andrews, Florida 

and firemen, with sledge-hammers, top-mauls, cold-chis- 
els and axes. The officers belonging to the Albatross 
which accompanied the expedition were Acting Master 
Theodore B. Dubois and Acting Ensign John H. Harris. 

"We proceeded up an arm of St. Andrew's bay, called 
North bay, for about twelve or fourteen miles, and reached 
a point of land, where we concluded to rest until broad 
daylight. 

"The bay was very wide at this point and a fog hung 
over the water, preventing us from seeing which way to 
go. As soon as we lay on our oars we thought we heard 
voices on shore. Pulling in the direction we soon ascer- 
tained that we were near quite a number of people, and as 
we came nearer we not only heard voices, but we heard 
dogs barking and horses neighing, and we feit quite sure 
we had stumbled upon a company of cavalry and soldiers, 
for day was breaking, and what we afterward found out 
were canvas-covered wagons we then mistook for tents. 
I thought I would startle them, and ordered a shell to be 
sent over their heads, and in a minute there never was 
heard such shouting and confusion; they seemed not to 
know which way to run. 

"Some of their mules and horses they succeeded in 
harnessing to the wagons, and some they ran off to the 
woods beyond as fast as they could be driven, a shell now 
and then over their heads making them hurry faster. The 
water was so shoal that our men had to wade over two 
hundred yards through the water over a muddy bottom 
to the shore, and before they reached it the people had all 
left, and we could just see them through the woods at a 
long distance off. We threw our pickets, and Acting Mas- 
ter Brown, with the men belonging to the Bohio, took one 
direction, and I. with my men and officers, took the other, 
and with top-mauls, axes, sledge-hammers and shovels, 
we commenced the destruction of salt-kettles, salt-pans, 
and mason work, for we had got into a settlement of salt 
workers. 

"To give you an idea of our seven hours' labor I refer 
you to the accompanying report of Acting M?ster Brown, 
and list, and also my list of salt-kettles. To render every- 
thing completely unfit for future use we h* d to knock 
down all the brick work, to destroy the salt already made, 
to knock in the heads and set fire to the b^^rrels. boxes 
and everything that would hold salt; to burn the sheds 
and houses in which it was stowed and to disable "nd 
burn up the wagons that we found loaded with it. The 
kettles being such as are used in making sugar, we knew 



St. Andrews, Florida 7 1 

the capacity by the marks on them, but the salt-pans we 
could only tell by measurement, which we had no time to 
do ; so that our total estimate of the amount of sea water 
that was boiling in them when we arrived is far short of 
what it really was. Our pickets brought in five M^hite men 
and three negroes; the white men were paroled and the 
negroes were brought away by us, 

"To our suprise we heard that we had driven off nine 
hundred men and boys, all of whom had been here for 
some months. They had all heard of the frequent attacks 
upon them by the boats of Admiral Lardner's squadron, 
and some of them had come from salt-works further down 
the coast. 

"After we had finished with these here, we pulled to 
another place four miles distant. The people saw our 
boats coming, and they commenced putting out their fires 
and securing their kettles. We gave chase, and Acting 
Master DuBois, after a dead run of three miles across a 
swamp and two creeks, with eight or ten men, succeeded in 
capturing five wagcnis, which he let go after breaking the 
kettles that were in them. At this place we destroyed over 
forty frunaces and sheds, besides pumps and kettles. After 
this day's work and a pull of thirty miles together, our 
men returned to their vessels, and, strange to say, that al- 
though nearly all were wet through as high as the waist 
all day long, there had not been one sick. 

"On the morning of the 26th at 3 a. m., with a force 
of the same number of men and boats, and with two how- 
itzers mounted, we quietly pulled with muffled oars in an- 
other direction to the eastward. At daybreak we landed 
at a place where there were a number of salt-works in full 
operation, and set fire to and destroyed the sheds and fire- 
wood, and salt-pots and pans. There were thirty alto- 
gether here, but many of the kettles had been taken away. 
Three miles beyond was another place where we found ex- 
tensive preparations for making salt and the arrange- 
ments were complete in every way. Here were large 
furnaces that had never been used, and there were brick 
kilns and sheds for drying brick, an excellent claying soil. 
All their sheds and furnaces, etc., we destroyed or ren- 
dered useless. Beyond this place, thirteen miles distant, 
we were informed was another large settlement, called 
California inlet, where there were said to be a thousand 
salt-makers, under the protection of a large body of cav- 
alry. 

"As our boats' crew had already pulled eighteen 
miles, and were wet and somewhat tired, I thought it not 



T^ St. Andrews, Florida 

advisable to add thirteen miles more to it; their condition 
when they returned to their vessels, after such a day's 
work, would have been anything but a proper one. How- 
ever, our day's work was not yet finished, for on our way 
back we discerned that we had passed in the dark three 
or four small salt-works, which we visited and destroyed. 
"On the 28th of November we dropped down to the 
entrance of St. Andrews bay and prepared for sea. The 
wind came out from the southward and westward, with 
rain and foggy weather, and with a heavy swell on, and 
we were detained until the 30th, when we saw a strange 
sail to the southward. Got under way and stood out to- 
ward it; but the weather getting hazy, we lost sight of her. 
Again visited the salt-works along the shores toward the 
east end of Santa Rosa island, but could not effect a safe 
and dry landing to our armed boats and crews, and return- 
ed to the anchorage behind Hurricane island, where my 
consort the Bohio lay. The following week we had rains, 
fog, and southerly winds. Our boats were employed in 
visiting the upper bays to watch for salt-makers. On Sat- 
urday afternoon, the 6th, the wind came around to the 
north, and the weather became clear and cold, and the sea 
commenced going down. 

''On Monday, the 8th, we took the Bohio in tow and 
stood along the coast toward Pensacola bay, landing and 
destroying the salt-works between St. Andrews and Santa 
Rosa island as we came across them. 

"The works at Phillip's inlet were not as extensive as 
they had been represented to me. I found only a few, and 
away inland, upon the shores of the bayou, which extends 
two or three miles. I saw neither smoke nor fires. At sun- 
set I stood to the southward ten miles and cast off the 
Bohio to proceed on her course ; stood in shore again and 
anchored until this morning, 9th November, at daylight, 
when I got under way for Pensacola. 

"During this short cruise I have hiid an excellent op- 
portunity of seeing the courage, endurance and cheerful- 
ness of the crew under my command; h?.d there been a 
good armed resistance made to our descent upon the salt- 
works, they would have found our men a tough party to 
handle. Of the officers I cannot speak in too high praise; 
it is owing to them solely that my crew are well drilled and 
obedient. 

"The Bohio rendered me much assistance with her 
boats and men, and Captain Brown and his officers showed 
a praiseworthy alacrity in complying with every request 
and order of mine. 



St. Andrews, Florida 73 

"Enclosed you will find the report of Acting Master 

George W. Brown, commanding United States brig Bohio, 

with his list of salt-pans, etc., destroyed, and a list also of 

mines that were destroyed by the crew of the Albatross. 

"Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"JOHN E. HART, 

"Lt. Com'dg. 

"Rear Admiral D. G. Farragut, 

"Commanding W. G. B. Squadron." 



"Account of salt pots and pans destroyed by an ex- 
pedition from United States steamer Albatross, Nov. 24, 
1862, St. Andrew's bay, Florida. 

"Lieut. Com'dr JOHN E. HART. 

"Commanding. 



No. Pots Capacity of each in Gallons Total Gallons 

24 6, 150; 12, 100; 5, 75; 3, 125 2,700 

25 11, 40; 10, 70; 4, 75 1,440 

21 25 525 

12 3, 100; 5, 70; 4, 75 950 

39 9, 100 ; 6, 70 ; 9, 45 ; 9, 40 ; 6, 25 2,235 

17 8, 150; 4, 100; 5, 40 1»800 

35 8, 125; 20, 45; 9, 45 1,875 

33 3, 150 ; 2, 100 ; 20, 70 ; 8, 45 2,410 

24 - 9, 100; 9, 70; 9, 25 1,705 

250 1^250 



5 



235 16'890 

90 1'800 

50 ... : 2,950 



(Dec. 8) 
59 .... 



Total 21.640 

"With the above there were destroyed furnaces, 
pumps, boxes, barrels, sheds, houses and wagons contam- 
ing salt in quantities that I could not estimate. Whenever 
I found anything connected with the manufactory of salt, 
1 destroyed it. 

"Respectfully, 

"JOHN E. HART, 
"Lt. Com'dr., U. S. N." 



74 St. Andrews, Florida 

Report of Acting Master George W. Browne of the 
United States brig Bohio 

"United States brig Bohio, 
"St. Andrews Bay, November 25, 1862. 
"Sir: Accordingto your request, I respectfully report 
that on the morning November 24, at 4 a. m., I started 
from this vessel with two boats the larger having a light 
12 pounder howitzer mounted for service — and thirty 
men, armed with rifles, muskets, and carbines. Taking 
the cutter in tow, I proceeded with all possible dispatch up 
North bay to a point not laid down on my chart, but at a 
supposed distance of twelve miles. Previous to my arrival, 
I discovered large volumes of smoke, covering the vicinity 
of our intended landing, and on going close I discovered 
numerous small fires which I concluded were camp fires^ 
particularly when I distinctly heard the challenge of "Who 
comes there," from a person I took to be a soldier on the 
shore. The day was just breaking when you called my at- 
tention to the noise and confusion in the camp. When we 
could see well we discovered numerous bands of men and 
horses, which appeared forming to give us battle. We 
then decided to pepper them a little, and accordingly we 
opened on them with shrapnell and canister. After firing 
thirteen rounds we landed, having had to wade in mud 
and water above our knees. You directed me to proceed 
at once with my command and destroy all the salt cauld- 
rons and salt I could discover, together with all the wagons 
and conveyances of the men employed at the works, which 
I faithfully did, killing all the mules I could find and burn- 
ing wagons a.nd appurtenances. 

"I ascertained from some prisoners I took that there 
were some* 2,500 men engaged in this vicinity making salt, 
and that there were about 1000 men engaged here but 
they had run off when our shells began to play about them. 
Some of them were armed with rifles, and others with shot- 
guns. One of the latter I found stowed away in a wagon, 
loaded with heavy buckshot. The salt-works I destroyed 
here were on a large scale, and I should judge, from the 
immense number, and from what the prisoners said, that 
500 bushels a day would be within the estimate of their 
labors. 

"According to your orders. I followed your boats 
some five miles up West bay; had the s:^me difficulty 
through landing in mud and water; made a half circuit of 
the island in the opposite direction from that you had 
taken; destroyed a number of salt-works that had been 
left with great alacrity; killed several cattle, and then 
took my men across a deep morass of mud, crossed over 



St. Andrews, Florida 73 

on the mainland, and destroyed numerous works, burning 
all the houses and appurtenances attached. All the salt I 
effectively destroyed by mixing it with sand in such quan- 
tities as to render it perfectly useless. At six p. m. I re- 
ceived orders to return, and arrived back to this vessel 
8:40 p. m. The men were much fatigued with the day's 
labor, and several of them had their feet cut and injured 
by the exposure. 

"I take much pleasure in commending Master's Mate 
Samuel H. Heath and James Sheppard for the able man- 
ner they performed their duty; and all the men behaved 
and worked admirably, particularly Daniel Parsons, boats- 
wain's mate, who is worthy of a better position. 

"Enclosed please find a detailed report of the destruc- 
tion of salt and cauldrons by the party under my com- 
mand. 

"Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"GEORGE W. BROWNE, 
"Acting Master Commanding. 

"Lieut. Com'dr. John E. Hart, 

"In command of Expedition." 



Account of Pots and Salt Destroyed by Boat Expedition 
from United States Brig Bohio, George 
W. Browne Commanding. 
No. Pans Capacity of each in Gallons 

6 100 600 10 

7 200 1,400 4 

9 6, 200; 3, 100 1,500 3 

5 150 750 4 

6 2, 60; 4, 100 520 6 

4 80 320 9 

13 9, 100; 4, 75 1,200 7 

2 150 300 2 

14 11, 90; 3, 150 1,440 175 

7 4, 60 ; 3, 100 540 60 

6 4, 100 ; 2, 50 500 20 

8 4. 60 ; 4, 40 400 40 

17 10, 100; 7, 80 1,560 50 

4 150 600 19 

5 100 500 1 

7 40 280 2 

5 60 300 70 

6 100 600 60 

2 150 300 20 

4 90 360 2 

5 100 500 3 



76 St. Andrews, Florida 



3 .... 


60 


180 


1 


250 


250 


4 


100 


400 


2 


400 


800 



152 16,100 568 

"St. Andrews Bay, November 24, 1862, 

"Respectfully, 

"GEORGE W. BROWNE, 
"Acting Master, Commanding. 
"Lieut. Com'dr John E. Hart, 
"Commanding Expedition." 
These raids, though very destructive, failed to check salt 
making on St. Andrews Bay. With its hundreds of miles of 
shore line, secluded bayous surrounded by forests, it was an 
easy matter to start making salt at one point, by the time that 
the work had been stopped at another. Salt was, at that time, 
selling at a dollar a pound in the interior of the state, and there 
was as much speculation in that business as there was in block- 
ade-running. 

Davis, in his work on Florida in the war, writing upon this 
subject in connection with later expeditions, says: 

"Salt making was profitable and necessary. There- 
fore it died hard in Florida. Within a few weeks the 
smoke of industry was again rising from the shores of St. 
Andrews Bay, and scarcely two months later, (during 
February, 1864) boat expeditions began over again the 
work of destruction. The new Confederate works had 
been in operation only ten days. They covered a clearing 
one-half mile square. The loss amounted to probably sev- 
eral hundred thousand dollars." 
This writer further says: 

"Certainly these raids on a war-time industry were 
among the most easily accomplished and disastrous blows 
struck the Confederacy in Florida. The government lost 
several million dollars' worth of valuable property, private 
owners lost about as much as the government, and the 
people lost the salt which they needed very much. The 
blockading squadron did the work. Never more than 250 
sailors and marines took part in the destruction — aided 
sometimes by runaway negroes and white Union men. 
The Federal navy thus not only kept out of the South 
necessary supplies from abroad but it almost put a stop 
to the production in Florida of a very necessary commod- 
ity — salt." 



St. Andrews, Florida 77 

The next affair of moment here in St. Andrews was the 
fight at Old Town, on March 20th, 1863. Some twenty years 
ago the writer furnished The' Buoy of this city with an account 
of this fight, which is herewith re-published, with the addition 
of the official reports of the affair as made by both Federal and 
Confederate officers. 



On the morning of March 20th, 1863, the U. S. bark Roe- 
buck lay at her moorings under the lea of Hurricane island, idly 
drifting with the tide. There was unusual activity on board the 
bark that morning, for rumors had reached the commander that 
a "blockade-runner" was being loaded somewhere up the bay. 
and preparing to slip out through the Pass on some dark, stormy 
night, with its valuable cargo of cotton, and a searching party 
was being fitted out to ascertain the whereabouts of the "run- 
ner" and possibly capture or destroy her, A howitzer had been 
placed in the bow of one of the bark's boats, a supply of am- 
munition taken on board, and Acting Master Folger, with 
eleven men, six landsmen and five seamen who had been as- 
signed to the work at hand, took their places in the boat. 

It was a balmy spring morning, the air hazy with the 
smoke from forest fires and the innumerable salt works with 
which the bay Was lined, while a gentle southerly breeze 
brought to the Roebuck the odors of jasmine and honeysuckle 
from the woods to the windward, with which Hurricane island 
was then' covered. It was a morning to inspire the men with a 
longing for more active service than was afforded by the daily 
routine on a vessel engaged in the blockading service, and those 
accompanying Acting Master Folger felt greatly pleased over 
their selection for this expedition, little dreaming as they sailed 
away of the terrible fate the day had in store for them. 

It was not the intention of Commander Sherrell of the Roe- 
buck that the party should make any landing, but pursuing the 
search with the boat, should destroy or capture the "runner," 
if it were possible for them to do so. But as the forenoon wore 
away without their discovering any signs of her, and while 
they were skirting the shore off "Old Town," it was decided to 
make a landing and secure a supply of water from the famous 
"Old Town Spring." Leaving two seamen in charge of the 
boat, Acting Master Folger with the remainder of the crew. 



78 St. Andrews, Florida 

six landsmen and three seamen, landed in front of the "Spring" 
lot, formed raks, and as light hearted and unsuspicious of dan- 
ger as though on dress parade, With their flag gaily floating 
o'er them, marched westward along the beach, and across the 
lot between the houses, toward the spring, while the boat sailed 
along the shore about three hundred feet away. 



Just before nightfall on March 19th, Captain Robinson, 
of the Confederate forces, with his company, consisting of a 
lieutenant, sergeant, and twenty men, arrived at "Old Town," 
and went into camp. The extensive salt plants on the shores of 
the bay, which were then being run at their full capacity to 
supply the Confederate armies and much of the Confederacy, 
together with the blockade running to and from the bay, caus- 
ed the Confederates to keep a small force in that vicinity. 

But few of the thirty-odd houses which then comprised 
what is now known as "Old Town" were at that season of the 
year occupied; they being principally the summer residences 
of visitors to the bay. The large two story log structure, with 
broad verandas and extensive frame additions on the east and 
west ends, originally erected by ex-Governor Clark, of Georgia, 
on the "Spring" lot, where G. M. West's residence now stands, 
was the most imposing structure in the little village. It was 
surrounded by magnolias, hickories, and oaks, with a small 
orange grove in the rear of the house, extending north and east 
of the spring. 

When Captain Robinson discovered that the force from 
the boat was about to land he formed his men back of this 
house and. hidden by the bluff, awaited a favorable opportun- 
ity to attack the party. Unsuspicious of the dangers around 
the, Folger and his men were proceeding toward the spring, 
v/hen, within seventy-five yards of them, there appeared as 
though from out the earth. Captain Robinson's force. 

Although taken by surprise, and in the presence of an en- 
emy double their number, they refused Captain Robinson's de- 
mand to surrender, whereupon the latter ordered his men to 
open fire. There was an attempt to retreat by the little party 
but owing to the close proximity of the two forces the closed 
ranks of Folger's men, and the more scattered condition of 
Robinson's company, the effect of the latter's first fire wrs ter- 
ribly disastrous, two-thirds of the retreating force being then 



St. Andrews, Florida 79 

and there either seriously or mortally wounded, and ere they 
reached the water's edge, Ralph B. Snow, ordinary seaman, 
had dropped dead near the old hickory that stood on the edge 
of the bluff, while seaman Thomas King died a short distance 
out in the water. 

The guns in use at that date, and particularly those used 
by Captain Robinson's force, were not the quick-firing repeat- 
ing rifles with which armies are equipped at the present time, 
and to reload was a task consuming some little time, but as 
fast as this could be done, the firing was resumed upon the flee- 
ing men, who were now wading and swimming toward their 
boat; but owing to their being in the water, widely scattered, 
and farther away, further casualties were not great. 

But the glistening white sands of the beach were already 
spotted with crimson, the life blood of the joyous party who so 
brief a time before had proudly crushed the salty crust beneath 
their feet, and littered with guns, accoutrements and cothing. 
which had been dropped or cast aside in their disastrou.s re- 
treat. Of the ten men forming the party, two had been killed 
nearly outright, three were fatally and three seriously wound- 
ed, while no one escaped unharmed. 

The two seamen seeing their companions running toward 
the water after the first death-dealing volley, and realizing 
that they had been ambushed, began to work the boat close in 
to the shore opposite the old pine on the beach, that they might 
quickly aid them in their efforts to escape. They also opened 
fire with their muskets upon Captain Robinson's men, who were 
then charging into the water up to their waists, keeping up a 
continuous fire upon the two men in the boat, and on those at- 
tempting to reach it, the most of whom, being badly wounded, 
were making slow progress towrrd it. Owing to the manner in 
v/hich the boat had to be sailed parallel to the shore, to quicker 
reach the men in the water, or afford them a chance to reach 
the boat, the howitzer could not be trained upon the enemy, 
even had the two had the time to have fired it. It was now a 
fight of twenty against two, with all the advantage of position 
in favor of the stronger force, and as the boat was steadily get- 
ting nearer the shore, the firing of Captain Robinson's men be- 
came more effective and, burdened as they were with their 
wounded companions who had already regained the boat's 



80 St. Andrews, Florida 

shelter, the two seamen concluded it best for themselves and 
the others depending upon them, to lower their flag and sur- 
render, which they did. 

The firing then stopped, and the men in the boat having 
requested of Captain Robinson permission to pick up the re- 
mainder of their dead and wounded, it was granted, and they 
began the work at once. The picking up of the wounded, and 
the body of seaman Thomas King, required the moving of the 
boat to and fro along the shore for some little time, and before 
the last man had been taken on board, the few survivors had 
planned an attempt to escape by stealthily working the boat 
out of range of the old fashioned guns of their enemies, who 
upon the surrender of the boat had returned to the shore from 
their charge into the water, thus still farther increasing their 
distance from the boat. Had Captain Robinson entertained the 
least idea that the crippled men would attempt such a bold 
move, there would have been no cessation of the firing by his 
men,. and the boat would have been ordered beached and taken 
possession of by him when it was surrendered ; but as the last 
man was taken out of the blood stained waters, the boat being 
then quite a distance from shore, and the wind being favorable, 
the crippled crew hoisted their sail, much to the astonishment 
of the wrathful victors on shore, who at once re-opened fire 
upon them, but they were soon safely out of range and sailing 
swiftly toward the "pass." 

As Captain Robinson had no boat with which to pursue 
them, he had to content himself with the destruction he had 
effected and with such fruits of his victory as had been left by 
the fleeing men on shore. These consisted of their flag, four 
minnie muskets, three cartridge boxes, three bayonets, rnd one 
pair of oars, besides a quantity of bloodstained cast off cloth- 
ing, and the body of seaman Snow, which was buried beneath 
the hickory where he fell. 

At 2 p. m. the survivors in the boat reached the Roebuck, 
and reported the disaster that had overtaken the expedition, 
the most fatal considering the number engaged, that ever be- 
fell he East Gulf Coast Squadron. The three men fatally in- 
jured died on board the Roel)uck and were buried amidst the 
tall pines and old live oaks on Hurricane island, their bodies 
afterward being removed, together with the body of Snow, to 



St. Andrews, Florida 81 

the National Cemetery, at Pensacola. The captured flag was 
sent by Captain Robinson, through his superior officers, to the 
Department Headquarters at Charlestown, and General Beau- 
regard, then commanding that Department, officially thanked 
him and his men for their victory. 



Each spring the red-birds brighten that same ground that 
fifty-five years ago was crimsoned with the precious life-blood 
of many a brave man, and the songs of innumerable birds fill 
the air with peaceful music where on that March morning of 
long ago, there was the hiss and whine of death-dealing bullets. 
Occasionally even now the plow will turn out, or the children 
will pick up on the beach while at their play, a dulled, rusty 
button, which on that eventful day was the bright eagle orna- 
ment on the uniform of a "marine;" sad reminders of the fate- 
ful volley which laid low so many of the Roebuck's stalwart men 
on that balmy spring morning of March 20th, 1863. 



Official Reports of U. S. and Confederate Officers 
of the Fight at "Old Town" 



Unfortunate Boat Reconnoisance at St. An- 
drews, Bay, Florida 



"United States Flag Ship St. Lawrence, 

"Key West, April 21, 1863. 
"Sir: I enclose herewith the report of Acting Mas- 
ter Sherrell, commanding bark Roebuck, of an unfortunate 
affair, in which Acting Master James Folger and the 
launch's crew of eleven men were engaged, and which re- 
sulted in the death of two of the men and the wounding of 
six. 

"It seems that Capt. Sherrell, having heard that a 
vessel was loading with cotton up St. Andrews Bay, sent 
up his launch and crew to reconnoiter. For some reason 
of which I am not advised, Mr. Folger in charge of that 
party made a landing. 

"The boat's crew were fired upon by a large guerilla 
force with fatal effect and barely escaped with their lives. 
Mr. Folger paying dearly for his incautiousness, as the re- 
port shows. 

"I think the landing was ill-advised. 
"Very respectfully, 

"Your obedient servant. 

"THEODORE BAILEY. 
"Acting Rear Admiral, 
"Commanding E. G. B. Squadron." 



82 St. Andrews, Florida 

Report of Acting Master John Sherrell, of the Roebuck 



"United States Bark Roebuck, 

"St. Andrews Bay, March 20, 1863. 
"Sir: I have to inform the Department that this 
morning I sent the launch of this vessel with an armed 
crew of eleven men, up the bay on a reconnoisance. The 
boat returned at 2 o'clock p. m., the crew having been at- 
tacked by a guerilla party of over fifty (50) men and met 
with the following severe loss: 

"Killed, Thomas King, seaman ; Ralph B. Snow, or- 
dinary seaman. 

"Wounded, Acting Master James Folger, severely; 
Robert Wilkes, captain of forecastle, mortally; Andrew C. 
Snyder, landsman, mortally; Neil O'Donnell, landsman^ 
mortally; Charles Sweet, landsman, slightly; George H. 
French, ordinary seaman, slightly. The body of Ralph B. 
Snow was not brought off. 

"Thomas Wylie, ordinary seaman, and James Kitch- 
en, landsman, deserve much credit for bringing the boat 
off safely, when nearly all the rest of the crew were killed 
or wounded. I have the honor to be, 
"Very respectfully, 

"Your obedient servant, 

"JOHN SHERRELL, 
"Acting Master, U. S. Navy, 
"Commanding U. S. Bark Roebuck. 
"Hon. Gideon Welles, 

"Secretary of the Navy, 
"Washington, D. C." 



Report of Maj. W. W. Scott, C. S. Army, 1st. Bat., Fla. Inf. 



"Headquarters, Marianna, W. F., Mar. 22, 1863. 

"Dear Sir: I have the honor to report an affair of 
Capt. Robinson's, on St. Andrews Bay. His report to me 
is as follows: 

" 'I proceeded to the town of St. Andrews on the 19th 
instant with a lieutenant, sergeant and twenty men. Ar- 
riving just before night, I encamped. Yesterday morning, 
March 20. about 10:30 o'clock, the enemy came into the 
bay in a launch, on which was mounted a brass howitzer, 
I think a twelve-pounder, and landed an armed party, con- 
sisting of an officer ad 9 men, 2 men remaining in the boat. 
They formed and marched down the beach, the boat keep- 
ing opposite to them. I formed my men and taking advan- 
tage of a bluff, charged within 75 yards of them before 
we were discovered. Being the stronger party, I ordered 



St. Andrews, Florida 83 

them to surrender, which they refused to do, but attempted 
to get on their boat. I ordered my men to fire and brought 
down 4 or 5. We charged into the water after them about 
waist deep, which brought us within their musket range 
from the boat, and our firing was so hot they could not 
board her, but swam out in the bay. Several attempted to 
get on board, but were killed. The men in the boat tried 
to fire their cannon, but were so badly wounded they were 
not able to do so. They finally lowered their flag and ask- 
ed for quarter. I immediately ordered my men to cease 
firing. They then asked permission to pick up their 
wounded and drowning, which was granted. They got 
two on board ; the balance had sunk, and being then nearly 
out of range they hoisted sail and escaped with boat. We 
had no boat to board them and the water was too deep to 
wade. There were but three men in the boat able to sit 
up. and one of them was shot from his seat as they went 
off. One escaped in the woods and we were unable to cap- 
ture him. I do not think a single man escaped unhurt as 
we could see from the blood that the two that remained 
in the boat were seriously wounded. We got their flag. 4 
minnie muskets, 3 cartridge boxes, 3 bayonets, also 1 pair 
oars. I should have taken the boat but for their begging 
quarter.' 

"I have received flag captured by Captain Robinson, 
and will forward to the commanding general if he directs 
me. I am, Captain, 

"Your obedient servant,, etc., 

"E. W. SCOTT, 
"Major, Commanding. 
"Captain James Barrow, Ass't Gen'l." 



"Headquarters Dept. South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. 

"Charleston, S. C, April 3, 1863. 
"Brig. Gen. H. Cobb, 

"Commanding District of East Florida. 
"General : 

"The commanding general directs me, through you. to 
express to Captains G. W. Scott and Robinson, and the of- 
ficers non-commissioned officers and men of their respect- 
ive command, his high sense of their soldierly conduct on 
the occasions reported severally by Maj. W. W. Scott and 
Capt. G. W. Scott. By enterprises such as these, conducted 
with coolness and address and characterized by resolute 
courage, small detachments of our troops may strike the 
enemy with such effect as to prevent them from landing 
within the limits of your command. 



84 St. Andrews, Florida 

**The flags captured should be sent to these head- 
quarters by some convenient opportunity. If you deem it 
proper or convenient, you might by flag of truce communi- 
cate to the commander of the United States forces to which 
the St. Andrews Bay party belonged, the statement of Cap- 
tain Scott, and demand the surrender of the boat and its 
arms and equipments, as it stood when surrendered, and 
the men, and notify them that unless this is done that here- 
after quarter must be denied under similar circumstances. 
"I am likewise instructed to say to you that the gen- 
eral is much gratified by the prompt manner in which you 
sent assistance to Brigadier General Finegan. 

"Respectfully, 
"Your obedient servant, 

"THOMAS JORDAN, 

"Chief of Staff." 
Acting Assistant Surgeon M. G. Raef ley's Report 
of Casualties 



"United States Bark Roebuck, 

"St. Andrew's Bay, Florida, 

"March 21, 1863. 

"Sir: I have to report the following casualties of the 
attack of the guerillas upon our boat's crew at St. An- 
drew's town, Florida. Killed: Thomas King, seaman, shot 
through the head ; Ralph B. Snow, ordinary seaman, re- 
ported shot through the head; his body was not recovered. 

"Wounded mortally: Robert Wilkes, captain of the 
forecastle wounded in seven places, with three balls and 
five buckshot; one of the balls entered the umbilical re- 
gion ; another ball entered the right forearm, and grazing 
the elbow joint, broke the humerus in its lower third; the 
other wounds are flesh wounds. 

"Neal O'Donnell, landsman, received two balls in the 
upper half of his right humerus, fracturing it badly; a 
buckshot in right shoulder; another buckshot through the 
auricle of right ear, lodging in the cheek ; and still an- 
other in the right thigh. 

"Andrew K Snyder, landsman, wounded in the head 
with buckshot, penetrating the skull, and a ball in right 
forearm, shattering the ulva. 

"Wounded severely: James Folger, acting master and 
executive officer, struck on the right knee apparently by a 
rifle ball, which after grazing the upper extremety of the 
fibula, was lost in the soft parts. 

"George French, ordinary seaman, received a flesh 
wound in his right forearm by a ball, and another slight 
wound on the left hand. 



St. Andrews, Florida 85 

"Wounded slightly: Charles Sweet, seaman, ball graz- 
ing right shoulder, and left side of throat, James Kichen, 
landsman, cut wound in right shoulder, 

"Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"MAX G. RAEFLEY, 
"Acting Assistant Surgeon. 
"Acting Master John Sherrell, 

"Commanding United States Bark Roebuck." 



There was no delay after these raids in getting at the work 
again of making salt, nor did the blockading fleet lose much 
time in raiding these new establishments. The next important 
raid made was that of December, 1863, which operations are 
described in the following reports, A correspondent of the 
New York Herald estimated the property destroyed as follows : 
500 boilers and kettles averaging 150 gallons each, at $5 per 
gallon, $375,000; value of manufactured salt, $120,000; Con- 
federate Government works, three-fourths of a mile square, 
with buildings, $500,000; 199 small salt works of 100 gallons 
each, $1,999,000; total, $2,985,000, The works of the Confed- 
erate Government had just been completed but ten days before, 
and were very complete and extensive. Another private report 
states that 98 brick furnaces were destroyed, and 100 buildings. 
This was possibly about the date of the greatest activity on St, 
Andrews Bay, and it brought here a large number of people. 
There were also many deserters and runaway negroes in this 
section at that time. 



"United States Flag-Ship San Jacinto, 

"Key West, December 28, 1863, 

"Sir: I have the gratification of reporting a very im- 
portant service performed by the blockading force in St. 
Andrews sound, under the command of Acting Master 
William R. Browne, in destroying a very extensive and 
valuable quantity of salt-works both at Lake Ocala and 
St. Andrew's bay. The circumstances are as follows: 

"On December 2, a boat was dispatched from the bark 
Restless, then lying at St. Andrew's sound, to Lake Ocala, 
some twenty miles to the westward, where Acting Ensign 
J. J, Russel landed with his men and marched some five 
miles inland to Kent's salt-works consisting of three differ- 
ent establishments, and utterly destroyed them. There 
were six steamboat boilers at this place, cut in half length- 



86 St. Andrews, Florida 

wise, and seven kettles, made expressly for this purpose, 
each holding three hundred gallons. They were in the 
practice of turning out one hundred and thirty bushels of 
salt daily. Besides destroying these boilers, a large quan- 
tity of salt was thrown into the lake. Two large flat-boats 
and six ox-carts were demolished, and seventeen prisoners 
were taken, who were paroled and released, as the boat 
was too small to bring them away. 

"On the 10th of December, Acting Ensign Edward 
Cressy arrived at St. Andrew's sound from the east pass of 
Santa Rosa's sound, with the stern-wheel steamer Bloom- 
er and her tender, the sloop Caroline, having heard of the 
expedition to Lake Ocala, and placed his command at the 
disposal fo Acting Master Browne, for more extensive op- 
erations near St. Andrews. Accordingly three officers and 
forty-eight men were sent from the Restless to the Bloomer, 
and she proceeded to West bay where the rebel govern- 
ment's salt-works were first destroyed which produced 400 
bushels daily. At this place there were twenty-seven 
buildings, twenty-two large boilers, and some 200 kettles, 
averaging 200 gallons each, all of which were destroyed, 
together with 2,000 bushels of salt, and some store houses 
containing three months' provisions. 

"The whole was estimated at half a million dollars. 
From this point the expedition proceeded down the bay, 
destroying private salt-works, which lined each side for n 
distance of seven miles, to the number of one hundred and 
ninety-eight different establishments, averaging two boil- 
ers ad two kettles each, together with large quantities of 
salt. Five hundred and seven kettles were dug up and ren- 
dered useless, and over three hundred buildings were de- 
stroyed, together with twenty-seven wagons and five large 
flat-boats. The entire damage to the enemy is estimated 
by Acting Master Browne at $3,000,000. Thirty-one con- 
trabands, employed at these works, gladly availed them- 
selves of this opportunity to escape, and were of great ser- 
vice in pointing out the places where the kettles were 
buried for concealment. 

"In the meantime, while the operations were going on. 
Acting Master Browne got under way in the bark Restless, 
and ran up to within one hundred yards of the town of St. 
Andrew's, which had been reported to him by deserters as 
being occupied only by a military force, for the last ten 
months, and commenced shelling the place, and some sol- 
diery, who made a speedy retreat to the woods. 

"Selecting the weather-most house for a target, the 
town was fired by the third shell, and thirty-two houses 
were soon reduced to ashes. No resistance was offered to 
our people throughout the affair. 



St. Andrews, Florida 87 

"Acting Master Browne speaks in highest terms of 
Acting Ensign James J. Russel and Charles N. Hicks and 
the forty-eight men from the Restless, as also Acting En- 
sign Cressy and the six men belonging to the Bloomer for 
the prompt manner in which they carried out their orders. 
"Respectfully, 

"THEODORUS BAILEY, 

"Acting Rear Admiral, 
"Commanding Eastern Squadron." 



"United States Flag Ship San Jacinto, 

"Key West, January 27, 1864. 

"Sir : It affords me pleasure to report to the depart- 
ment that the promise made by Acting Master William R. 
Browne, commanding bark Restless, at the conclusion of 
his last report concerning the destruction of extensive salt- 
works in the vicinity of St. Andrew's bay — namely, that 
he would complete the work so handsomely begun — ap- 
pears to have been kept. He reports that he went on 
board the stern-wheel steamer Bloomer with two officers 
and forty-seven men belonging to the Restless, and pro- 
ceeded up the bay against very unfavorable circumstances, 
of darkness, wind and tide, some ten miles above St. An- 
drews where his force was landed, and destroyed some 
ninety additional salt-works, together with all the boilers, 
kettles and buildings attached to them; whereupon the 
enemy commenced the destruction of some 200 more which 
were in advance, of our party, and this saved us from all 
further trouble except skirting along the bay for the 
distance of 15 miles to make sure that the work of de- 
struction had been well performed by them. Deserters 
from Captain Anderson's and Robinson's companies 
reported subsequently that both officers and men had 
broken up and gone home, as the destruction of the salt- 
works, which they were ordered to guard, had been so 
complete ; and six of them have enlisted in the Navy, 
after taking the oath of allegiance. 

Acting Master Browne again speaks in terms of com- 
mendation of the officers and men engaged in this service 
including Ensign Cressy, and the five men composing the 
crew of the steamer Bloomer. 

Respecetfully, 

THEODORUS BAILEY. 
Acting Rear-Admiral Com'dg. E. G. B. Squadron. 
HON. GIDEON WELLS, 

Secretary of the Navy." 



88 St. Andrews, Florida 

Either on December 10th or 11th, 1863, Acting Master 
Browne in command of the U. S. bark Restless, who, with the 
stern-wheel steamer Bloomer, were raiding and destroying the 
salt works on St. Andrews Bay, took up a position in front of 
the Clark house at Old Town, about three hundred feet from 
the shore, and in a very brief time had set many houses on fire, 
through firing redhot balls, and shelling, and soon every build- 
ing in the place was destroyed. The only surviving witness of 
this destruction of St. Andrews that we have found, is "Hawk" 
Narcisso Masselena, who was about 21 years of age at the time, 
and who, with his father, who cared for many of the houses in 
Old Town which belonged to summer residents, went there as 
soon as the fire started, to see if they could save any of the con- 
tents of the houses, but he reports that the firing was too "hot" 
for them, and they went back in the woods. 

Acting Master Browne reports the destruction of 32 houses. 
and the driving away of a company of cavalry. There was no 
company of cavalry here at that time, so this part of the report 
must be taken as the result of a too vivid imagination, coupled 
with a desire to make a good report. 

The map made by the Coast and Geodetic Survey party, 
in 1855, shows thirty two buildings in the so named City of St. 
Andrews, but many of these were but servants quarters and 
buildings of that character. Statements of those who were ac- 
quainted with the place in 1863 are to the effect that no change 
in buildings had been made for some years, and that probably 
the map of 1855 shows all there was in 1863, eight years later. 

Beginning on the east, the first buildings mapped were two 
close to the beach, one within an enclosure and the other on 
the margin of it, standing on the top of the hill coming up from 
Caroline bayou, and about 650 feet from the west side of the 
bayou entrance. About one hundred feet west from this en- 
closure, and between it and the next, stood three buildings, one 
back of the others. Then came an enclosure west, about 100 
by 200 feet in size, in which there was one large and two 
smaller buildings, one in front of the other. All the smaller en- 
closures were about of this size. 

The next enclosure to the westward shows a large and a 
small building therein, with a dock leading out from the beach 
in front, into about six feet of water. The adjoining enclosure 



St. Andrews, Florida 89 

on the west shows two buildings therein, while the next one 
which was subdivided across the north end, shows five buildings 
on it. West of this enclosure and running northeasterly was the 
highway leading out of the city, and which was the one used by 
the summer visitors, and all others visiting this place between 
its settlement and about 1885. It crossed the stream leading 
into the bayou at a point that was long known as the "burn't 
bridge," the bridge undoubtedly having been burned in some of 
the Federal raids in this section. 

It is stated that where this road came to the beach was lo- 
cated the store, and here it was that the first building was set 
on fire by the hot shot from the Restless' guns. Back from the 
beach, about 500 feet, on the west side of this road, was a 
small enclosure in which was one building, while about four 
hundred feet farther northeast, on the same side of the road, 
was a large enclosure, the "White House" place, in which was a 
large house, and three smaller ones along the northeast side of 
the lot. On the beach adjoining the road on the west, was an 
enclosure in which were two buildings. West of this were two 
enclosures which do not show any buildings therein. These arj- 
where the graves of the Clark family are, and were probably 
reserved for burial purposes. 

Next west was the large lot on which the Clark house 
stood. The drawing showing this house is rather indistinct, 
but looks as though there was a small building near the large 
one, on the west side. In front of this place, about 800 feet from 
shore, is drawn an anchor, denoting a suitable location for an- 
chorage. It is in 20 feet of water, that depth coming quite 
close to the shore at that time. Some little distance to the west 
of this lot are two enclosures together, in each of which there 
were two buildings. In the northeast portion of what is laid out 
as St. Andrews City, the ground was cleared, and possibly 
cultivated. The largest clearing shown on this map, in what is 
now St. Andrews, was a tract on the beach about half way be- 
tween the bayou and the Panama City west limits, which was 
about four hundred feet in width, and a quarter of a mile in 
length, along the beach. On this tract is shown two houses, one 
on the eastern side in an enclosure, the other in the clearing. 

This was the City of St. Andrews from about 1838 until 
it was destroyed in 1863. Then, as now, it was a well known 



90 St. Andrews, Florida 

resort, but at that date only so in the summer time, whereas 
since 1885 it has been as much a winter, as a summer resort. 
But always it has been the location of important fisheries, 
which though in an early day were limited to the bay, and con- 
tigous gulf beaches, have now extended to deep sea fishing, 
hundreds of miles from this port. 



The following official report tells of the next important 
raid of a party from the blockading fleet on the salt works on 
East Bay. 



"Additional report of Acting Master W. R. Browne, 
United States Bark, Restless: 

St. Andrew's Bay Florida, Feb. 19, 1864. 

Sir: I have the honor of making the following report; 
having gained information that a large barge would leave 
the Wetappo river on or about the 18th instant for East 
bay, with all the material on board necessary for erecting a 
large salt-work, and on her return intending to bring back a 
cargo of salt (her capacity 1,500 bushels) I fitted out the 
second cutter with eleven men, under charge of Acting 
Ensign Henry Eason, and gig with seven men under charge 
of Master's Mate F. Grant, to effect her capture on her 
passage down, and with orders, if after waiting five days 
and not seeing the barge, to land and destroy all the salt- 
works in the vicinity. 

According to my instructions the boats left the ship 
at 8 P. M., the 17th instant, and proceeded to a bayou on 
the southwest side of East bay, selected as a place of am- 
bush, and which the barge must necessarily pass. After 
lying in wait the appointed time and seeing no appearance 
of the barge, the men were landed, and destroyed all the 
works at hand, fifteen in number, among which were some 
of the largest government salt-works ever erected in 
Florida, the whole of which were successfully destroyed, 
consisting of five large steam boat boilers, and twenty- 
three kettles, together with sixteen log houses, one flat- 
boat, a large quantity of salt, vats, tanks, and other ma- 
terials connected with the manufacture of this article. 
After destroying the above they returned to the ship bring- 
ing with them six contrabands found at this place. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant. 

W. A. BROWNE, 
Acting Master Commanding. 
Acting Rear-Admiral Theodorus Bailey, 

Commanding E. G. B. Squadron." 



St. Andrews, Florida 91 

The next raid was made April, 1864, report of which was 
made Secretary of War, Gideon Wells, by Rear Admiral 
Uailey, as follows: 



"Expedition to harass the enemy. 



Report of Acting Rear Admiral T. Bailey, United 
States Flag-Ship San Jacinto. 



Key West, April 21, 1864. 

Sir: Acting Volunteer Lieutenant William R. Browne 
commanding the bark Restless, at St. Andrews Sound re- 
ports the result of two more expeditions made under his 
orders to harass the enemy in that vicinity. 

The first consisted of eight refugees in a dug-out 
canoe, who ascended the Wetapoo river, some twenty 
miles to White Bluffs, and there destroyed about two 
thousand bushels of salt, brought away the sacks, and 
captured a barge about thirty-six feet long, eleven feet 
beam, and three feet deep, sloop rigged and decked, which 
he is fitting up with a howitzer for further operations. A 
heavy rain had fortunately driven the cavalry guard 
away from the place of shelter, so that no resistance was 
offered. Twenty-three refugees were brought off. 

The other expedition consisted of twenty-two men in 
the boats of the Restless, who proceeded up East bay 
during another heavy rain storm, which had again sent 
the guard to look for shelter. They succeeded in destroy- 
ing two government salt-works with three hundred bushels 
of salt and about the same quantity of cornmeal, without 
opposition and brought off one contraband. Acting Volun- 
teer Lieutenant Browne reports that there are five com- 
panies of rebel troops in that vicinity to guard the salt- 
works, and that these works are rebuilt as fast as he de- 
stroys them. 

Respectfully, 

THEODORUS BAILEY, 

Acting Rear-Admiral Commanding E. G. B. Squadron. 
Hon. Gideon Wells, 

Secretary of the Navy. 



The next raiding expedition to land here was that of Major 
Weeks in command of white and colored troops from Cedar 
Keys, who landed here and proceeded to raid the interior 



92 St. Andrews, Florida 

country. This affair is reported by Capt. Henry W. Bowers, 
Assistant Adjutant General, from Key West, describing various 
raids made in July. The report relative to landing at St. An- 
drews is as follows: 

"About the 20th ultimo, an expedition, composed of 
400 troops from the Second Florida Cavalry and Second 
U. S. Colored Troops, under the command of Major Weeks, 
Second Florida Cavalry, made a descent from Cedar Keys, 
Florida, upon Saint Andrew's Bay. On landing, 100 bales 
of cotton were captured near the coast and burnt. The ex- 
pedition marched 44 miles into the interior, burnt 80 bales 
of cotton, 2 large bridges, 1 large grist-mill, 1 camp with 
store-houses, etc. complete, capable of containing 500 men. 
On the return to the coast the expedition brought in 115 
contrabands, 8 mules, and 2 horses. The troops returned 
after an absence of nine days without the loss of a man." 



There appears to have been a change in vessels in the 
blockading fleet here between the raid on the salt works in 
April, and the last reported, which were made on the last of 
November, and forepart of December, 1864, and are described 
in the following reports: 



"Report of Acting Master J. C. Wells, United States 
Bark Midnight. 



St. Andrew's Bay, Fla., Dec. 4. 1864 
Sir: I have the honor to report the following, since 
relieving the United States Bark Restless on this station : 

"I have had reason to believe, by what I could glean 
from refugees, that there was considerable salt making on 
the bays above here. Consequently, on the 30th of Nov., 
last, I despatched an expedition with twenty-four men, in 
command of Acting Master Charles H. Cadieu, accom- 
panied by Acting Ensign E. O. Drew and Acting Assistant 
Surgeon Edward W. Avery, up the bay to destroy salt- 
works and salt, which they did effectually. 

They captured and brought away with them, the 
sixteen salt-makers, whom I have since paroled. 

Three contrabands, who are here, one has enlisted, 
and the others object to enlist, on the ground, that they 
have left their families in secessia. 



St. Andrews, Florida 93 

The expedition also captured two confederate cavalry 
pickets, with their horses. The prisoners of war I shall 
send to Key West for your disposal by the earliest oppor- 
tunity. 

The expedition captured the following fire-arms: 
Two flint-lock muskets; one flint-lock riflle ; one breech- 
loading carbine; also one double-barrel fowling piece. 
Very respectfully your obedient servant, 

J. C. WELLS, 
Acting Master U. S. N. commanding U. S. bark Midnight. 
Acting-Rear Admiral C. K. Stribling, 

Commanding E. G. B. Squadron, Key West, Fla." 



"Destruction of Salt-works in St. Andrew's Bay. 
Headquarters Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron. 



Key West, Florida, Feb. 13, 1865. 
Sir: Referring to your letter of the 3rd instant, I 
enclose herewith a copy of the report of the commanding 
officer of the Midnight, of an expedition against rebel 
salt-works, which is all the information I have of the cap- 
ture of the horses and mules referred to. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully your obedient 
servant, 

C. K. STRIBLING. 
Acting Rear-Admiral Commanding E. G. B. Squadron. 
Hon. Gideon Welles, 

Sec'ty. of the Navy." 



The end of the war found but few people in this section. 
The Town had been destroyed, and no attempt made to rebuild. 
Constant raids on the salt makers had greatly reduced these 
forces, still this work continued even after the war ended, for 
until lines of transportation had been rehabilitated in the lower 
south, and trading resumed with other portions of the country, 
the salt works on this bay continued to furnish supplies of salt. 
However this business gradually closed out, and there remained 
but the furnaces, a few with their kettles intact, others with 
the half of buoys, or boilers from saw mills, which years 
after were gathered up by the settlers, some of which can yet 
be found in various parts of the bay country. Walter R. 
Gainer has told the writer of working a crew making salt 
on the flat on the north shore of West Bay, in 1865, which 
he stated was sold to Jackson county planters. 



94 St. Andrews, Florida 

There were no residents of St. Andrews, therefore when 
the war ended with Johnson's surrender, the news of which 
was quite a little time in reaching this section of Florida, there 
was neither rejoicing or sorrow. The few people who had 
come to this portion of the state were according to Governor 
Milton's account, deserters from both armies, runaway slaves, 
and criminals who had fled here to escape justice. With the 
departure of the vessels of the blockading fleet the settlement 
on Hurricane Island was abandoned, and was soon but a 
memory of the war. 

The principal owners of the destroyed homes at what is 
now known as Old Town, resided in and about Marianna. War 
had destroyed much of their property at home as well as here, 
and it was many years before their attention was again turned 
toward their summer mecca here on St. Andrews Bay. Re- 
construction, which was as hard on these people as was the 
war, occupied their attention the next few years, and it was 
only the venturesome young men who visited the play ground 
of their boyhood days. 

West Florida had been placed by an order of the 
Federal Army, June 7th. 1865, with the rest of the state in 
the department of Florida with headquarters at Tallahassee 
but the Union forces that were detailed to keep up posts in 
almost all the towns and cities in the state, found no occasion 
to visit this region, which General Howell Cobb had depicted as 
"desert country," with no inhabitants, therefore this place 
which had been noted on the government charts but a few years 
before as the "City of St. Andrews," received no attention 
throughout reconstruction days. 

A few fishermen sought the shores of the bay, but there 
was no trade in fish at that time, therefore no development in 
the way of business, or building. 

The principal resident fishermen of that date were James 
Witherspoon, Peter Parker and Joe Masselena. The fish were 
salted, and sold to the few planters from the inland, who 
came here with teams after them. 

Marianna people had been the principal promoters of St. 
Andrews, from 1836 until 1863, owning about all the lots 
comprising the "City of St. Andrews" of before the war, and 
were therefore the first to consider further building there, and 
to start the same. 



St. Andrews, Florida 95 

A number of business men held a meeting at Marianna in 
February, 1867, at which the project of building a railway 
from Quincy to the Apalachicola River, and another north 
from St. Andrews Bay, in to Georgia, were discussed. These 
roads were planned to move the cotton from the interior to 
where it could be handled by water. This was undoubtedly 
the first planning of railway building to St. Andrews. 

The first building erected here after the war was put 
up by J. S. Baker, on the lot in Old Town, where the Baker 
home of the early day stood, which was burned in the destruc- . 
tion of St. Andrews in 1863. This house had been used as the 
custom house at Parker before the war, from there removed 
to Bunkers Cove, thence moved by Mr. Baker to Old Town. 
This was in 1867. The erection of this building was followed 
by others, which were put up by former residents of the old 
town, or their descendants, who resumed their summer out- 
ings here on the bay. 

But this section was slow recovering from the havoc of 
war, and the calamities of reconstruction days and military 
government. There were not enough people here to keep up 
the privileges attendant upon civil government, and there was 
but little call for either officers or offices. The census of . 
1860 showed but 2154 inhabitants in Washington county, and 
2302 in 1870, a gain of but 148 in the ten year period. The 
population at that time was principally in the northern part 
of the county, there being but few people in this section of the 
county. 

Soon after this section of St. Andrews Bay was surveyed, 
a large amount of the land bordering the shores of the bay 
was reserved by a presidential order, dated November 13th, 
1834. on account of the live oak thereon, which was then 
greatly in demand for ship building purposes. Some of this 
oak was cut and taken to the navy yard at Warrenton, where 
it was stored. This reservation included all of Section 5, Town- 
ship 4. Rsnge 14, except the west half of the south west % 
and easterly to the east side of Section 24, east of Long Point. 
This land v/as released on March 21st, 1878. 

On the 23rd of March, 1849, the Secretary of War directed 
the reservation at St. Andrews Bay, for military purposes, of 
"that tongue or neck of the main land west of the several en- 



96 St. Andrews, Florida 

trances (called Coe Point) for a distance of two miles along 
the coast, also the tongue or neck of the main land (called 
Crooked Island) east of the several entrances, for a distance of 
t'vo miles along the coast; also the islands intermediate be- 
tween the points of the main land, called St. Andrews Island 
etc." 

The Coe Point reservation was relinquished on May 18th, 
1878, by the Secretary of War. The Presidents order of May 
3rd, 1897, reserves lands in Township 5 South, Range 14 West, 
including Hurricane Island, for military and naval defense, 
and so far as can be ascertained there has been no change 
in this latter reservation. 

The land on which the "City of St. Andrews" was after- 
ward located was in the southwest part of Section 6, a frac- 
tional lot in Township 4 south, Range 14 west. The south-west 

14 of Section 6, Lot 5, was patented on November 5th, 1847, 
to Wm. M. Loftin, Peter Gautier Sr., Wiley P. Clark, and John 
W. Clark, and John W. Campbell, heirs of John Clark deceased, 
as the patent reads. The date of entry is not known here, but 
it was probably made by ex-governor John Clark, and the pur- 
chase completed by his heirs, and Loftin and Gautier, after his 
death. It included the land on which John Clark had erected 
his house in 1827. It is probable that these parties intended to 
promote this location and plat a town here. 

The south-east l^ of Section 6, or Lot 6, was patented to 
Jacob Robinson, September 1st, 1846. The North half of this 
section was entered by James Watson, probably in 1837, but the 
patent was not issued until September 29th, 1888. Watson 
bought nearly all the land on the north shore of the bay that 
had a good stan^ of pine on it, from Dyers point to Long point, 
which he used in supplyig logs to his mill on Watson's bayou, 
the latter bayou taking its name from him. The records show 
that the North half of Section 1, Township 4 south, Range 15 
west, was patented to him April 20th, 1837; Lot 6, Section 35. 
Township 3 south. Range 15 west; Lot 2, Section 34, same town- 
ship and range; Lot 5, Section 35, same township and range; 
and the Southwest 14. of Section 6, Township 3 South, Range 

15 west; were also patented to him on April 20th, 1837, as 
was much of the other land that he had bought on the north 
shore of the bay. 



St. Andrews, Florida 97 

That portion of St. Andrews taking in Buena Vista Point, 
was entered by Richard H. Long, and patented to him as Lot 
4, fractional section 1, Township 4 south. Range 15 west, on 
Sept. 1st, 1846. This tract was sold for taxes and a tax deed 
was issued to Thomas Hannah for the same, dated October 
7th, 1875. In 1880 he sold this property to L. M. Ware and 
A. Ludwig. the latter coming here with Captain Ware on his 
20 foot sloop that the latter started in from his Maryland home, 
in 1878, to go to St. Andrews Bay, a place he had visited while 
engaged on the Coast Survey boat Gedney. En route he spent 
one winter at St. Augustine, then came here. He bought out 
Ludwig's interest in the land and platted that portion of our 
present city now known as Ware's Point. 

Owing to the Civil War and destruction of the City of St. 
Andrews, but little attention was paid to taxation, and it was 
some time before county governments began to function, and 
assess and collect taxes. When this did start there were but 
few who gave attention to the taxes levied on the St. Andrews 
city property, and it was sold for taxes with adjacent lands, 
on April 7th, 1873, to James L. Baker, for the taxes assessed 
in 1872, and a deed for this property was issued to him June 
2nd, 1875. 

Having at this date, April, 1921, received an official 
record of the Custom House at St. Andrews, from the Treasury 
Department, which we had for a year been trying to secure, 
we are now enabled to give a very complete account of the 
same, and this information, together with photographic copies 
of patents issued for the first purchase of land in St. Andrews, 
now possessed by Mr. J. H. Drummond, materially aid us in 
securing a fuller understanding of the first development in 
what is now St. Andrews. 

Under date of April 2nd, 1921, the Assistant Secretary 
of the Treasury in charge of Public Buildings, Hon James H. 
Moyle, furnished the following facts relative to the establish- 
ment of a customs officer here. 

"The district of Pensacola was established on May 
7th, 1822, with a collector and surveyor." This was in 
accordance with the Act of Congress of May 7th, 1822, 
to provide for the collection of duties on imports and ton- 
nage in Florida, and for other purposes, being the fourth 



98 St. Andrews, Florida 

Act passed by congress relative to Florida.) "The sur- 
veyor's office was abolished in 1824. 

"St. Andrews Bay, Florida, first appears in the list of 
customs districts in 1828, being placed in the district of 
Pensacola with a surveyor stationed at said port. William 
M. Loftin was the first incumbent of record, his appoint- 
ment dating from 1828. He was followed by T. F. Loftin, 
F. G. H. Long, William C. Bryan and James Witherspoon, 
the last named serving up to the Civil War." 

All the above were residents of this section, Loftin residing 
on North Bay when he first came here, and in what is now St. 
Andrews, from 1830, or possibly a year earlier, in the next 
house east of Governor Clark's, which he built. The others 
are men who came here from Jackson county, who took part 
in the promotion of St. Andrews, which was located in the 
southwest quarter of section six. After the war Pensacola 
appears to have furnished the officers for this port, and they 
probably only visited it as necessity demanded, residing in 
Pensacola. Of this period the report says: 

"In 1866 the collector at Pensacola recommended 
E. C. Parkhurst for the position at St. Andrews Bay. He 
was followed by Hinton J. Wilson, A. B. Luse, J. W. Smith, 
Calvin G. Willard, T. Warren, Silas Flournay, B. F. Elliott, 
Joseph E. Sierra, David Crockett, Thomas Hannah and 
Thomas E. Watson, the last named incumbent served until 
the office was abolished by Department letter dated 
February 13th, 1880." 

As there were eleven incumbents in the fourteen years 
named, it is probable that an appointment was made by the 
collector at Pensacola almost yearly, and of Pensacola citizens, 
many of the above being thus remembered. Besides the 
above, and probably between 1880 and 1888, other officers 
were here from Pensacola looking after custom house matters, 
among which were Harry Campbell and a man named Peter- 
son, the customs house being located on the south shore of the 
peninsula about opposite Land's End. 

The office was re-established in February, 1888, says the 
assistant treasurer, Walter R. Gainer being the first appointee 
to that place as deputy collector and inspector. Mr. Gainer 
told the writer that he talked with Senator Pasco about the 
development of St. Andrews Bay, which at that time was 
being promoted by the so called "Cincinnati Company," and 



St. Andrews, Florida 99 

the senator agreed with him that it was an opportune time to 
begin the work, and through the action of the senator, Mr. 
Gainer was appointed to the position of collector and inspector. 
He went to Pensacola and was sworn in. The records show 
that the office was abolished by Department letter dated 
March 25th, 1890. From that time until 1909 the affairs of 
this port were attended to, as had been done before, by the 
collector at Pensacola, or an appointee of his. The letter of 
the assistant treasurer sets forth the further history of the 
office as follows: 

"On July 10th, 1909, the collector of customs for the 
former district of Pensacola recommended to the Depart- 
ment the re-establishment of St. Andrews as a sub-port of 
entry. This recommendation the Department declined to 
approve under date of July 16th, 1909, but authorized the 
appointment of an inspector at St. Andrews for the purpose 
of enforcing the provisions of the Steamboat Inspection 
and Navigation Laws to serve during the excursion season. 
On August 2nd Morton Rynearson was appointed as in- 
spector. Class E, with compensation at the rate of $3 per 
diem for duty at St. Andrews 'to serve for such period 
during the present excursion season as may be necessary.' " 
The placing of an inspector here at that time was caused 
by the many launches employed here then in handling the 
numerous excursions that the railway was bringing here, and 
the necessity of having the laws governing such boats more 
rigidly enforced. The assistant treasurer further says: 

"Under date of March 16th, 1910, the collector for 
the former district of Pensacola recommended that the 
position of inspector of customs at St. Andrews be made 
permanent from April 1st to October 31st of each year, 
which recommendation was approved by the Department 
under date of March 24th, 1910, and on April 5th Morton 
Rynearson was appointed to this position. On September 
20th, 1910, the said collector recommended the re- 
establishment of St. Andrews as a sub-port of entry, and 
on September 24th, 1910, the Department stated that the 
matter would be given consideration at a later date. 

"On March 3rd, 1911, Congress passed an act creat- 
ing a sub-port of entry at St. Andrews in the district of 
Pensacola, and under date of July 11th, 1911, Morton Ry- 
nearson was again appointed deputy collector and in- 
spector with authority to enter and clear vessels. Mr. 
Rynearson resigned from the public service on April 15th, 
1914, and David Tyre was transferred from Jacksonville 



100 St. Andrews, Florida 

to St. Andrews. On March 13th, 1918. Mr. Tyre was 
transferred to Miami, and John Klein was appointed as 
deputy collector in charge at St. Andrews, at which point 
he has been stationed ever since, 

"Exact information as to the location of the first cus- 
tom office or the establishment of St. Andrews as a port of 
entry cannot be given, as most of the records of the Treas- 
ury Department prior to 1833 were destroyed by fire, and 
but very little information can be obtained before the 
year 1828." 

As Governor Clark, the first settler here, did not come 
until 1827; Wm. M. Loftin coming a year after; and the survey 
of this section not having been made by Clements, Exum and 
Clements until the latter part of 1831 and the forepart of 
1832, there could not have been much in the way of business 
to call for a custom house officer here when the office was 
first created in 1828, but this activity of Clark and Loftin in 
starting something here, and getting government recognition, 
m^rks the beginning of the first promotion of St. Andrews. 
The securing of a charter in 1832 for the construction of a 
canal from St. Andrews Bay to the Chipola River, possibly 
what is now known as Dead Lakes, then called Hort's Lake; 
and the entry of the southwest quarter of section six probably 
by John Clark, are also indications of an effort on the part of 
these first settlers to start a town at this point. 

Just what there was in the way of commerce in or out of 
St. Andrews Bay that impelled the formation of a customs dis- 
trict here as early as 1828, is a problematical question the 
solving of which would be very interesting as throwing more 
light upon the early history of this section. 

The first exploitation of this section that was ever m-^de 
was that of the St. Andrews Bay Railroad and Land Compnny 
the so-called Cincinnati Company, which was carried on 
through the years 1885-86, 1887-88. A m!ap made in 1887 
by Robert O'Neil. draftsman of the company, shows the lands 
belonging to this company included nearly all of Township 
3 South, Range 14 West, also the larger portion of the north 
tier of sections in Township 4 South, Range 14 West. It w ;s 
commonly stated that the plat of this company covered about 
seven square miles. 

The advertising of this company was most attractive, as 
were the terms offered, and it is stated that some 350.000 



St. Andrews, Florida 101 

people in the United States took advantage of these terms, and 
invested the trifle they were required to. to purchase one or 
two lots. The latter were very small, 28 by 82, outside of the 
lots near the bay, and though one was given away, the only 
requiren^ents being that a dollar be sent to pay for the record- 
ing of the deed, an adjoining lot could be bought for $2, and 
many of the interested ones took the additional lot. The 
lots in this city were, of course, sold for much more than this, 
but the great profit was in these small lots outside, which it is 
said netted the company several hundred thousand dollars. 

To aid in the advertising, a book was written and pub- 
lished, entitled "Strange Fancies," which the prospectus de- 
scribes as follows: 

"It (the book) possesses special interest to a large 
number of people, from the fact that St. Andrews Bay is 
the scene of many of its most interesting chapters, and the 
story is associated with that place in the days 'before the 
war;' tells of the bontbardment of the town during the 
war — in fact, the key to the plot is found in the bombard- 
ment — and its close takes leave of the principal characters 
at that beautiful new city. The description of St. 
Andrews Bay contained in the book will afford a very 
intelligent idea of the place, the author having visited 
St. Andrews Bay frequently, and made a careful study 
of its surroundings, while familiarizing himself with the 
data necessary to render his book descriptively accurate." 
It will not be amiss to say that the book was a poor 
literary production, if it could be called literary, and was only 
purchased by those who were eager to get all the information 
they could relative to "Beautiful St. Andrews Bay." 

This advertising brought a l?rge number of northern 
people to this section, who. finding that their lots were of but 
liHle or no value, and the nror^osed railway having collapsed 
quite a number took up homesteads about the bay, which 
accounts for so many northern people having thus located in 
this section. A newspaper "The Messenger" was started, 
followed by the "Buoy," and it is. said that at that time there 
were nearly 2,500 inhabitants in this city. The lands were 
all that had been described in the company's literature, but 
the platting in such small tracts had the result of keeping down 
the development of farms, so those who could not find a home- 
stead to their liking returned to their northern homes. 



102 St. Andrews, Florida 

Descriptions of the lots was finally ignored and they were 
assessed as quarter and half sections, and thus sold out by 
the state. 

This takes this history up to the "boom" of 1885-88. The 
later history of St. Andrews is that intermingled with that of 
other portions of the bay, and the starting of many other towns, 
that it would require an account of a larger territory than this 
work was intended to include to cover the past forty years' 
growth of the St. Andrews Bay country. This may be given 
in some future work by the author who has the data on the 
subject. 




St. Andrews, Florida 103 

Appendix 



THE BLOCKADE OF ST. ANDREWS BAY 



By G. M. West. 



Although President Lincoln issued his Blockade Proclama- 
tion of the ports of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, 
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, on April 19th, 1861, it was 
not until late in the winter following, 61-62, that a concerted 
effort was made to blockade the Gulf ports. 

By order of the Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, 
January 20th, 1862, Flag Officer D. G. Farragut was sent to 
the Gulf, and in this order the Gulf Blockading Squadron was 
divided into two squadrons; the Eastern and Western Gulf 
Blockading Squadrons, with Flag Officer Farragut in 
charge of the Western, and Flag Officer Wm. W. McKean, 
then in charge of the Gulf Squadron, headquarters at Key 
West, to be in charge of the Eastern Squadron. Farragut's 
headquarters were at Ship Island, he arriving there to take 
command on February 20th, 1862. 

On this same day appears in the records the first order is 
used relative to St. Andrews Bay operations, which reads as 
follows: 



"Order of Flag-Officer McKean. U. S. Navy, to Lieutenant 

Winslow, U. S. Navy, commanding U. S. S. R. R. 

Cuyler, to proceed to St. Andrews and St. 

Joseph's bays for the capture of vessels. 

"U. S. Flagship Niagara, 

"Ship Island, February 20, 1862. 
"Sir: You will proceed in the U. S. Cuyler under 
your command without delay, to St. Andrew's Bay and 
capture a schooner which I am informed is loading with 
cotton at that place. From thence you will proceed to 
St. Joseph's Bay and capture two vessels which I am in- 
formed are loading there. From thence you will proceed 
to Key West, and immediately upon your arrival will pro- 
ceed to make the necessary repairs to the machinery of 
your vessel, and will endeavor to have her in a condition 
for service by the time I reach that place, which I expect 
will be in a few days. 



104 St. Andrews, Florida 

"I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"Wm. W. McKean, 
"Flag-Officer, Commanding Gulf Blockading Squadron. 
"Lieutenant Commanding Francis Winslow, 

"Commanding U. S. S. Cuyler, Ship Island." 



Previous to this date this port had furnished a most valu- 
able means for running in supplies for the confederacy. One 
method was described by Lieut. G. W. Doty, commanding the 
steamer Marion, stationed off West Pass, Apalachicola, in a 
memorandum dispatch under date of February 5th, 1862. 
He stated that "vessels go into St. Andrews and land their 
cargoes at Bear Creek, and cart them across to Ochesee, on 
the Chattahoochee river, and then it comes down to Apalachi- 
cola by water." He further stated "that the schooner Wm. P. 
Benson was then at St. Andrews; about two weeks before she 
brought a cargo of coffee there from Havana and was known 
to be there then taking on a cargo of cotton." He stated "she 
may not get out for a month, but they are loading her now. 
About 150 bales of cotton was sent to her last week from 
Apalachicola. She carries English colors when at sea. Capt. 
Thomas L. Mitchell is now loading the Benson; he loaded the 
Phoenix also. He is a northern man and married there. It 
is about five days' travel from Ochesee to Bear Creek by carts." 

All manner of supplies such as had before the war been 
purchased in the North, or England, were brought in on these 
runners, one capture showing up a consignment of hoop-skirts, 
then a most fashionable appendage in a lady's outfit. 

On March 12th, 1862, the bark Pursuit was reported 
blockading St. Andrews and St. Joseph's Bay. 

March 11th Flag Officer McKean reports to the Secre- 
tary of War that he had dispatched the steamer Cuyler to 
examine St. Andrews and St. Joseph's Bay, and a thorough 
examination of both harbors was made by Lieutenant Com- 
manding Winslow, but no vessels were discovered in either. 
Under this same date Flag Officer McKean reports as follows : 



"When off Mobile I dispatched the Water Witch, 
with instructions to her commander to run down the coast 
from St. Andrews and join me off Apalachicola, and I am 
happy to inform you that near St. Andrews Bay he fell 
in with and captured the schooner William Mallory, of 



St. Andrews, Florida 105 

Mobile, from Havana, with an assorted cargo bound to a 
Confederate port. Shortly afterwards, meeting with a 
severe gale, she parted company with her prize and for 
some hours was in great danger of being lost, but fortu- 
nately succeeded in reaching this place, where I found her 
on my arrival. The prize schooner has not yet arrived. 
"Lieutenant Hughes, of the Water Witch, reported 
that on the morning of March 5th, 1862, while cruising 
off St. Andrews Bay he gave chase to a schooner, which 
he succeeded in capturing after a pursuit of five hours. 
She proved to be the William Mallory, of Mobile, from 
Havana, February 28th, with an assorted cargo bound 
wherever she could make port, and probably would have 
come into St. Andrews Bay had she not been discovered by 
the steamer Water Witch." 



April 14th, 1862, the bark Pursuit was in St. Andrews Bay, 
coming from St. Joseph's Bay, on which trip the steamer Flor- 
ida and sloop LaFayette were captured. An account of these 
captures has been published in this paper. 

The regular report made to the Secretary of Navy shows 
that on April 14th, the schooner Beauregard was blockading 
St. Andrews Bay. This is the first reported stationing of a 
boat to blockade this port. 

On May 14th the schooner gunboat Samuel Rotan was 
ordered to St. Andrews Bay. This boat had been at Key 
West for repairs. Report of May 26th, the same. 

On June 4th, 1862, the Samuel Rotan was still stationed 
at St. Andrews Bay, blockading the same. 

On June 25th, 1862, this schooner was in command of 
volunteer Lieutenant W. W. Kenniston, ad was stationed at 
St. Andrews Bay. 

July, 12th, 1862, this boat was reported stationed at St. 
Andrews Bay with the same officer in command. On July 
30th, same report. 

On August 5th, 1862, the steamer Sagamore was reported 
blockading St. Andrews Bay with Lieutenant G. A. Bigelow 
in command. 

September 1st, the Sagamore, with the same commander, 
was blockading St. Andrews Bay, also in report of September 
15th and October 2nd. 

One of the heretofore unpublished reports of operations 



106 St. Andrews, Florida 

here in the bay, is shown in the following item taken from the 
log of the Sagamore, while here, at the above dates: 

Abstract log U. S. S. Sagamore, Lieutenant-Commander 
Bigelow, U. S. Navy, commanding, 
"September 11, 1862. — At 10 a. m. sent launch and 
second cutter on shore armed, the first in charge of Acting 
Master Babson and Master's Mate Sidell, the second in 
charge of Acting Master Fales and Assistant Engineer 
Leavitt. Boats landed and employed in destroying salt 
works. At 11 stood underway and stood in nearer the 
town. At 5 :45 p. m. boats still employed destroying salt 
works. 

"September 12. — At 7:30 a. m. second cutter in 
charge of Acting Master Fales, 15 men, launch in charge 
of Acting Master Babson, 17 men, left the ship to destroy 
salt works." 



From a report from Rear Admiral Lardner, commanding 
the East Gulf Squadron, the following additional work of the 
Sagamore at that time is described : 



Report of Acting Rear Admiral Lardner, U. S. Navy, 

regarding the destruction of salt works at St. 

Andrews and St. Joseph's bays. 

(No. 122) "Flagship St. Lawrence. 

"Key West, October 2, 1862. 

"Sir: I have the honor to report that salt works of 
the rebels at St. Andrew's Bay, capable of making 216 
bushels of salt per day, were destroyed by Lieutenant- 
Commander Bigelow, of the Sagamore, on the 11th of 
September last. 

"The salt works at St. Joseph's Bay, estimated of ca- 
pacity to make 200 bushels of salt a day, were destroyed 
by Lieutenant Commanding Couthony, of the Kingfisher, 
on the 8th of September. 

"Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"J. L. LARDNER, 

"Acting Rear-Admiral, Comdg. Eastern Gulf Squadron. 
"Hon. Gideon Welles, 

"Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D. C." 



On October 15th, the bark Wanderer, Acting Master 
E. S. Turner in command, and the schooner Samuel Rotan. 
Acting Vol. Lieutenant commanding W. W. Kenniston, were 
blockading St. Andrews Bay. 

The Wanderer was reported, November 1st, as blockading 



St. Andrews, Florida 107 

St. Andrews Bay, also on November 15th and November 30th. 
December 15th, the steamer Stars and Stripes, Acting 
Master commanding C. L. Willcomb, was blockading St. An- 
drews Bay, also on same station January 1st, 1863, and Janu- 
ary 15th. 

February 1st, 1863, the bark Roebuck, Acting Master J. 
Sherrill, was on St. Andrews Bay station, also in same place 
on February 15th, March 1st, March 16th, April 1st, April 
15th, May 1st, May 15th, June 1st, July 15th, August 1st, 
August 15th, September 15th, same, but Acting Master J. O. 
Barclay was in command. October 1st, same. 

No vessels appear on the St. Andrews Bay blockading 
station in report of October 15th, 1862. 

In the report of November 1st, 1863, the bark Restless, 
Acting Master W. R. Browne, was reported stationed at St. 
Andrews Sound, also in report of November 15th, December 
1st, December 15th, January 1st, 1864, January I5th, Febru- 
ary 1st, February 15th, March 1st, March 15th, April 1st, 
April 15th. May 1st, May 15th, June 1st, June 15th, July 1st, 
July 15th. August 1st, August 15th, with Acting Volunteer 
Lieutenant W. P. Randall in charge, September 1st, September 
15th, October 1st, October 15th, November 1st, November 15th. 
In this report it is stated that the Restless had been ordered to 
Key West. This bark carried seven guns. 

There was much work done by Acting Master Browne, 
commanding the Restless, while on this station, among which 
an instance of trying to get a cotton cargo out of here without 
running the blockade, is described in the following reports of 
Acting Master Browne, and letter from Acting Rear Admiral 
Bailey: 



Report of Acting Master Browne, U. S. Navy, commanding 
U. S. bark Restless, regarding proposition made 
by Union men of Marianna. Fla. 
"U. S. Bark Restless, 

"St. Andrew's Bay, Fla., January 19, 1864. 

"Sir: I have the honor to make the following report: 

"On the afternoon of the 16th, instant, a person 

appeared on the mainland at this place with a flag of 

truce. He was a mile or more distant, and was supposed 

to be a refugee or contraband, many of whom have lately 



108 St. Andrews, Florida 

come off to this ship. I dispatched Acting Ensign Hicks 
in a boat to him, and he was allowed to come on board 
without my knowledge. 

"He represented himself a good Union man, having 
business with me on behalf of good Union men of Mari- 
anna. I took him into my cabin, where he remained 
during his stay on board. He made substantially the fol- 
lowing statement: That there was a schooner of 60 tons 
burden, named the Kain, lying at Bear Creek, North Bay, 
about 20 miles from here, and partly loaded with cotton 
(of this fact I was already aware) ; that she could carry 
about 120 bales; that he, George W. Maslin, was the agent 
in this mission for four Union men of Marianna, named 
John T. Myrick, Alderman, Moore, and Burnett, one or 
two of whom owned part of the cotton on board the 
vessel. All had determined to get away from the South- 
ern Government, if possible, except Burnett, whom domes- 
tic affairs compelled to remain. 

"Myrick also wished to pay for some goods purchased 
in New York just before the war. As the only way to ac- 
complish these objects they proposed to buy with Con- 
federate money the vessel and some cotton they could 
procure to complete the cargo, together with the remain- 
ing interest in that already on board, and bring the vessel 
and cargo to this place, Maslin, who desired to leave, 
acting as captain, and, if possible, obtain my permission 
to proceed to Pensacola or Key West, where, on proof of 
their loyalty, they hoped to be allowed to sell their vessel 
and cargo, or, if I should refuse such permission, to land 
their cargo upon the island here and await your action. 

"The four men are known by refugees here to be true 
and loyal mten. Capain Maslin says he is an English- 
man, who has been in this country about twelve years, 
residing most of that time at Key West, and has taken 
out his first papers of naturalization. While on board he 
took the oath of allegiance. 

"I told Captain Maslin I could make no promise what- 
ever, or in any way compromise myself or Government; 
that if the vessel came down to me I should take possession 
of her, in the same way as if she were lawful prize, and 
refer the whole matter to you. Captain Maslin said he 
would report my answer to his principals and thought they 
would be willing to bring the cargo and schooner down 
and deliver them into my possession, to await the action 
of the proper authorities in the matter. 

"I warned him against attempting to run out. and in 
order to guard against surprise, I told him where to 
anchor. He brought two letters with him, which I enclose. 



St. Andrews, Florida 109 

"Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
"W. R. BROWNE, 

"Acting Master, Commanding. 
"Acting Rear-Admiral Theodorus Bailey, 

"Commanding Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron." 



Letter from Acting Rear-Admiral Bailey, U. S. Navy, to 

Acting Master Brov^ne, U. S. Navy, commanding 

U. S. bark Restless stating his inability 

to suspend the blockade. 

"U. S. Flagship San Jacinto, 

"Key West, January 28, 1864. 
"Sir: In reply to your communication of January 
19, enclosing a letter to yourself from John T. Myrick 
(relative to a proposed plan for running a cargo of cotton 
out of St. Andrew's Bay, with a view to delivering it over 
to the blockading squadron there and afterwards, on proof 
of the owner's loyalty, applying to obtain it for their 
own benefit) , I have to state that by a decision of the 
United States district judge at this place 'only the Presi- 
dent, acting under authority of laws of Congress, could 
license such' an agreement. The admiral of the fleet can 
not suspend the laws of Congress nor the blockade. 

"You can communicate this to the persons mentioned 
in your letter at your discretion. 

"Respectfullv, 

"T. BAILEY. 
"Actg. Rear-Admiral Comdg. Eastern Gulf Squadron. 
"Acting Master Wm. R. Browne. U. S. Navy 

"Commanding U. S. bark Restless." 



Report of November 30th showed the bark Midnight, 
eight guns on St. Andrews station Acting Master A. C. Welles 
in charge, December 15th; same; December 31st, same; Janu- 
ary 16th, 1865, same. 

The report of February 1st shows the bark James L. 
Davis, four guns, Acting Master W. N. Griswold. in charge, 
on the St. Andrews station. 

The report of February 15th shows the bark Midnight, 
eight guns. Acting Master J. C, Welles, on St. Andrews Bay 
station. The same report February 28th, March 15th, April 
1st, April 15th, May 1st, May 15th, June 1st: June 14th 
Acting Rear-Admiral reported to the Secretary of the Navy 
that the Midnight, with other vessels in the East Gulf Squad- 



110 St. Andrews, Florida 

ron, would be sent North as soon as they could be brought from 
the stations where stationed. 

This closed the blockading of this harbor. Besides the 
capturing of vessels, which were attempting to run the block- 
ade, the officers and crews of the vessels stationed here did 
much work in destroying the salt works, for which St. Andrews 
Bay was noted. The vessels on the St. Joseph Blockade at 
times came to this bay and captured prizes, as in the case of 
the capture of the steamer Florida on April 6th, 1862, and 
sloop LaFayette, on the 4th of April, by the bark Pursuit, 
from St. Joseph Bay, 

The bark Roebuck was here for a lengthy period of time, 
and its officers and crew did much in the way of destroying 
salt works, etc. It was a crew from this bark that had the 
fight at Old Town, with Captain Robinson's company of Con- 
federates, on March 20th, 1862. 

It was the Restless, Acting Master Browne in charge, 
that took up a position 800 yards in front of the "City of St. 
Andrews," early on the morning of December 11th, 1863, and 
soon destroyed it by burning. Browne's report of the matter 
is as follows: 



"Selecting the largest group of houses, we succeeded 
in firing it, our third shell bursting in one of the houses at 
the southeast end. The wind being E. S. E., communi- 
cated the flames quickly to the others, consisting of 32 
houses and shanties, which were speedily reduced to 
ashes, and will no more afford shelter, as heretofore, to 
the enemy, from which they watched the proceedings of 
all which took place in or about the harbor." 



We have talked with a care-taker, who was there at the 
time, and he states that the fire began in a building near 
where Mr. William L. Wilson's house now stands in Old Town, 
St. Andrews, which was in a group of houses at the beach 
terminus of the road leading out of St. Andrews to Marianna. 
There was not a single building of any kind at the close of 
this fire. 

The anchorage of this fleet was just within the bay, back 
of Hurricane Island. There were numerous houses on the 
island, a dock, trees on the large sand hills which wera to be 



St. Andrews, Florida I 1 1 

found there then, and a cemetery, where those dying on the 
fleet were buried. Years after the bodies of these parties 
were removed to the national cemetery at Pensacola. 

Refugees and contrabands, who came to the fleet for pro- 
tection, were housed on the island, as were some of those 
taken prisoners. There was also a dock on the peninsula east 
of what is now known as Hawk's Point, then called Davis 
Point. This section was, as was Hurricane Island, occupied 
by the Federal forces. 

The entire operations of the Federals and Confederates 
in and about St. Andrews Bay, are to be found in the Official 
Record of the Army, and of the Navy, and the writer may at 
some future time republish these records in our local papers. 
Many have thus appeared in the past, but there remains some 
unpublished. 




INDEX 



Americus Vespucius, 

Apalachee Indians, 

Articles traded for, 

Austerlitz, 

Baker's purchase, James L., 

Bartram quoted 

Bay Head, 

Bazare's expedition. 

Blockade running, 

Blood, David R., 

Bombardment of Old St. Andrews 

by bark "Restless," 
Bonnycastle's report. 
Boom of 1886-88, 
Brinton quoted, 
Buena Vista Point, 

Cabeza DeVaca, 2, 3, 4, 

Callaway, P. M., 
Campbell, Ann W., 
Campbell's "Colonial Florida," 
Caroline Bayou, 
Cedar Creek, 
Charlevoix's voyage. 
Charter of St. Andrews Bay Land 

Company, 
Chief Joe, Dr. Keyes' account of 

the killing of, 
Cincinnati Company, 
Civil War, just before the. 
Civil War, close of, 
Clarke, 

Clark, Major Elijah, " 23, 

Clark, Gov. John, 23. 24, 26, 26. 28. 
Clark, Mary, 
Clark, Wiley, 
Clark Monument, 
Clement and Exum, 
Coast line, changes in. 
Coast Survey Officers' visit. 
Cobb, Gen. Howell, 
Coe, Jesse, 

Coe Point reservation reliquished. 
Colored troops from Cedar Keys 

land at St. Andrews, 
Confederate Government salt works. 
Congressional apprapriatlon, 
Crawford, W. H., 
Custom House, 
b. A. R. records, 
Davis Point, 

Davis quoted, 68. 

Dead Lakes. 
DeLuna's expedition. 



2 

7. 8 

14 

82 

97 

18. 14 

28 

4 

57 

38, 39 

86, 89 

12 

102 

21 

17 

16. 48 

57 

27, 30 

11 

41 

28 

6 





65 




100 




60 




93 




17 


24. 


25 


29, 


32 




26 


30. 


31 


29, 


30 


28, 


33 




16 




41 




67 




S9 




96 


91. 


92 




85 




84 


26. 


26 




32 




31 




67 


63, 


, 76 




36 




4 



Desert, 
DeSoto, 
Dyer's Point, 
Early Fishermen : 

James Witherspoon, 
Peter Parker, 
Joe Massalena, 
East Bay salt works. 
East and middle districts of Florida, 
Econfina, 
Econfina River, 
English possession Florida, 
English emigrants, 
English removal. 
Era of homesteading, 
Escambia County, 
Establishment of first Custom 
House, with list of Custom 
Officers, 
Female Academy, 
Ferry, 

Figs, 8 

First building after the War, 
First census. 
First post-office, 
First post-masters : 
James B. Clarke, 
A. B. Pearson, 
T. E. Clarke, 
Wm. T. Porter, 
Wm. E. Forslew, 
First English settlements. 
Fishing, 20, 34, 

Forbes' sketches of Florida, 1821, 

quoted. 
Fortifications asked for, 
Freebooters, 
Ft. Croevoceur, 

F-al'er's "Purchase of Florida," 
Gainer'r; reminiscences. W. ..A., 
Gainer, Walter R., quoted, 
Garay's Land, 

Gauld's chart, 10, 

Gautier, Sr., Peter W.. 
Genet, 

Gilmer's "Georgians," 
Gilmore, <j,-, ,„..j^,., 

Gov. Milton describee residents 

on St. Andrews Bay, 
Grants to British officers and men. 
Grapes, growinfir. 
Ireek, Narvarez, loss of. 
Hammock Island, 22, 



17 

8 

17 



94 

90, 91 

65 

22. 28 

23 

11 

13 

18, 19 

101 

34 



97, 98 
89 
32 

. 9. 27 
95 
34 
66 





66 


18. 


14 


48, 


49 




48 




46 




e 




6 




23 


27, 


64 




98 




2 


15, 


46 


37, 


53 




24 




29 




17 




94 




12 


14, 


15 




3 


23, 


43 



INDEX 



Hentz, Mrs. Caroline Lee, 39 

Highway out of Old St. Andrews, 89 

Holmes Valley, 28 

Hurricane, first described, 4 

Hurricane of August, 1851, 43 

Hurricane Island, 10, 16, 17, 43, 57, 94 
Hurricane Island, astronomical 

station on, 47 

Hutchins, T., quoted, 6, 16, 17 

Incursions from Georgia and Carolina, 7 



4, 5 



19. 



37. 



7, 8 
86 
66 
34 

23, 27 
11 

89, 53 
42 



21, 28, 32, 



entry of 



Indians described, 

Ineranhity's claim. 

Intrusive burials, 

Jackson County, 

Jackson, Gen., 

Johnstone, Commodore George, 

Keyes, Dr. J. W.. 

Keyes, Julia L, Hentz, 

Lake Wimico, 

Land locations of St. Andrews, 

Latitude and longitude. 

Lost bay, a, 

Lieut. Hart, of the "Albatross, 

quoted, 
Live Oak reservation, 
Loftin, Capt. Wm., 
Loftin, T. F., 
Long's, Richard H., 

Buena Vista Point, 
Magnetic variation, 
Maldonado, 
Marianna, 

Mashburn, Eliza Porter, 
Masonic lodge at Wells, 
Massalena, Hawk, 
Massalena, Joseph F., 
Milledgeville, Ga., 
Milton, Gov. John, 
Miurelo's Bay, 
Missions, 
Moccasin Creek, 
Moore's expedition, 
Salt, manufacture of, 
Salt works, crew of bark 

night" raid on, 92, 93 

Salt works, destruction of, 68, 69, 70, 71, 

72, 73, 74, 75, 76. 85, 86, 87, 88. 
St. Blaise. !• l^- ^'^ 

Naming after saints. 1. • 



97 

47 

3 

37, 40 

83 

13. 19 

88 

29 

26, 30 

57, 64 

2. 4 

6. 7. 8 

26 

8 

57, 58, 64 



"Mid- 



Narvarez's voyage, 

Narvarez's men, Indian attack on. 

Newspapers : "Messenger" and 

"Buoy," 
New York "Herald," quoted, 
"No Cross, No Crown," 
Ochesee, 

Old military road, 
"Old Town," 
"Old Town" skirmish, March 20th, 

1863, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85 
"Old Town," destruction of, in 

December, 1863, 88 

Operations of blockading fleet, 59, 60, 61, 

62, 63, 64. 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 

109. 110, 111. 



2 
3 

101 

64, 85 

40 

104 

47 

34. 94 



Orange trees. 

Ormond and Young, 

Oysters, 

Palms. 

Panton. Leslie & Co.. 

Peltry trade. 

Penny, 

Pensacola, 

Pensacola "Gazette," quoted on 
first R. R., 

Pineda's voyage. 

Ponce de Leon's voyage. 

Population between 1850 and 1860, 

Population between 1860 and 1870, 

Powell's survey. 

Railway from St. Andrews Bay into 
Georgia discussed at Marianna, 

Red Bluff, 

Red skunk skins. 

Refugee Indians, 

Removal of Confederate troops 
objected to, 

Reestablishment of Custom House 
in 1888. Walter R. Gainer, 
deputy collector and inspector, 

Rivere, Henry, 

Robert's "Florida," 

Robinson, Capt., 

Rosemary, 

Rynearson, Morton, appointed in- 
spector. 

Saddle Hills, 

Sand Island, 



8. 9 
21 
48, 49 
2. 9 
14 
H 
17 
21 

36 

2 

2 

50. 54 

95 

46 

95 

15 

3 

54. 55 



98. 


99 


32. 33. 


37 




9 




66 




14 




09 




16 




IB 



INDEX 



24 

54 

8 

16 

22 

22 

5. 6 

17. 22, 23, 34 

60 



Sans Culottes, 
Second Seminole War, 
Seminole Indians, 
Seven Pines, 
Sewel and Bower, 
Shackleford and Merlet, 
Shell heaps and mounds. 
Ship canal. 

Sloop "LaFayette" captured 
Spain loses Florida, 
Spanish coins, 

Spanish move to St. Joe and elsewhere, 
Spaniards return, 

St. Andrews, 1^, 31, 38, 47, 

St. Andrews College incorporated, 
St. Andrews created a sub-port 
of entry, 1911, 

St. Andrews, early settlement of, 

St. Andrews, map of, 

St. Andrews City, and adjoining 
country, 1854, chart of, 

St. Andrews, naming of, 

St. Andrews Bay. 9, 10. 22, 33 

St Andrews Bay R. R- & Land 

Co.-s promotion, 100. 101 

St. Andrews Bay, river out of, ' 

St. Andrews Island. 



99, 100 
37 
35 



47 
1, 4 

67 



16, 



Steamer "Florida" captured. Fi9. 60. 61 

St. Joe Bay, 6. 7, 9, 16. 

St. Joseph, 18, 33. 34, 

St. Joseph "Times." quoted, 33, 

Stearns, Silas, quoted, 49, 50, 51, 

Storms, 

Storms, history of, 43, 44, 

"Sunny South, The." quoted. 

Treaty of peace, 1783, 

Troup, G. M., 

U. S. Coast Survey maps 

Walton County, 

Wapaluxy Bay, 

Ware's, L. M., purchase, 

Washington County, 

Watson's, James, entries and sawmill 

Webbville, 

Wells, a sea-port, 12, 13 

West Bay salt works. 

West Florida military district, 

Wewahitchka, 

White, J. M., 

Williams', John Lee 

Williams, quoted, 

Wood. 

Yellow fever. 

Youpon, 



map, 
12, 14, 16, 16 



62, 63 

36, 67 

37, 48 
48. 64 
52, 63 
15. 16 
46, 46 

40 

18 

26 

46, 88 

34 

22 

97 

34 

36, 96 

22, 28 

14, 18 

68 

94 

43 

32 

46 

, 20, 21 

22 

28 

5 




(Panama City Pub. Co. Print) 



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